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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


BULLETIN  No.  105 


THE  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN 


BY  JOHN  W.  LLOYD 


SUMMARY  OF  BULLETIN  No.  105 


1.  This  bulletin  contains  an  account  of  a  "farmer's  vegetable 
garden"  maintained  at  the  University  of  Illinois  for  five  years. 
The  area  of  the  garden  was  one-half  acre.  Page  153 

2.  Except  the  first  year,  all  vegetables  were  planted  in  rows 
sufficiently  far  apart  to  admit  of  horse  cultivation.  Page  153 

3.  In  1900,  the  expenses  for  operating  the  garden  were  $32.06, 
and  the  value  of  the  products  $83.84.         .  Page  155 

4.  Owing  to  the  hot,  dry  weather  and  abundance  of  insects 
in  1901,  the  cost  of  the  garden  was  greater,  and  the  value  of  its 
products  less,  than  in  1900.  Page  161 

5.  The  proper  arrangement  of  the  vegetables  in  the  garden 
greatly  facilitates  the  preparation  of  the  seed  bed  for  the  later 
plantings.  Page  170 

6.  In  1902,  the  hand  labor  in  the  garden  was  greatly  reduced 
by  the  free  use  of  a  wheel  hoe.  Page  174 

7.  The  application  of  thirty-two  tons  of  manure  in  the  fall 
of  1901  was  followed  b}T  enormous  yields  from  some  of  the  crops  in 
1902,  when  the  value  of  the  products  amounted  to  $124.31.  Page  177 

8.  The  cost  of  the  garden  in  1903  was  $28.10,  and  the  value 
of  the  products  $112.73.  Page  182 

9.  In  1904,  an  especial  effort  was  made  to  produce  large  yields 
from  some  of  the  more  exacting  crops,  and  as  a  result  the  total 
value  of  the  garden  products  was  $136.81,  while  the  expenses  were 
only  $27.73.  Page  189 

10.  The  average  value  of  the  products  per  year  for  the  five 
years  was  $105.23,  and  the  average  net  profits  $74.85.        Page  198 

11.  The  proper  selection  of  varieties  plays  an  important  part 
in  the  success  of  any  garden.     A  list  of  the  seeds  purchased  for 
the  "farmer's  garden"  in  1904  is  given.  Page  199 

12.  Conclusions.  Page  200 


BY  JOHN  W.  LLOYD,  CHIEF  ASSISTANT  IN  HORTICULTURE 

In  the  spring  of  1900,  one-half  acre  of  well-drained,  black  prairie 
soil  upon  the  grounds  of  the  horticultural  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois  was  selected  as  a  site  for  a  "farmer's  vegetable 
garden,"  and  has  been  maintained  as  such  through  five  successive 
seasons.  The  object  of  maintaining  this  garden  was  to  secure  data 
regarding  the  cost  of  such  a  garden  and  the  value  of  its  products, 
and  to  demonstrate  the  feasibility  of  securing  a  large  assortment  and 
continuous  supply  of  vegetables  throughout  the  year  by  a  proper 
selection  of  varieties,  timely  planting,  and  judicious  tillage.  The 
same  general  plan  was  followed  throughout  the  five  years ;  but  each 
year  such  changes  were  introduced  as  the  experience  of  preceding 
years  seemed  to  warrant.  Labor  saving  methods  were  practiced  as 
far  as  possible.  The  garden  was  laid  out  in  the  form  of  a  long 
rectangle  (280.5  feet  by  77.65  feet),  with  the  rows  extending 
lengthwise  of  the  area,  and  for  the  most  part  placed  sufficiently  far 
apart  to  admit  of  horse  cultivation.  Care  was  taken  to  work  the 
ground  in  spring  when  it  had  reached  exactly  the  right  degree  of 
dryness  so  that  a  seed  be*d  could  be  prepared  without  the  use  of  any 
hand  tools  whatsoever.  The  arrangement  of  the  vegetables  in  the 
garden  was,,  with  few  exceptions,  in  the  order  of  their  planting,  so 
that  it  was  possible  to  harrow  the  unplanted  portion  at  sufficiently 
frequent  intervals  to  keep  it  free  from  weeds  and  well  supplied  with 
moisture.  Furthermore,  the  early  crops  which  occupied  the  ground 
only  a  part  of  the  season  were  planted  together,  so  that  after  their 
removal  the  land  might  be  planted  to  later  crops,  the  cultivation  of 
which  would  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds  that  might  otherwise  be 
allowed  to  go  to  seed  and  increase  the  labor  of  hand  weeding  the 
next  year.  In  laying  out  the  rows  for  planting,  a  sled  marker  was 
used,  by  means  of  which  three  rows  could  be  marked  at  a  time ;  and 
furthermore,  these  marks  were 'of  just  the  right  depth  for  the  recep- 
tion of  most  varieties  of  small  seeds. 

Each  year  an  accurate  account  was  kept  of  all  labor  involved  in 
the  planting  and  care  of  the  garden,  as  well  as  the  cost  of  seeds,  etc., 
so  that  the  cost  of  the  garden  for  each  year  could  be  determined. 
No  charge  was  made  for  the  rent  of  the  land,  nor  for  the  manure 
except  the  hauling.  Neither  was  any  charge  made  for  the  time 
spent  in  gathering  the  vegetables,  for  in  practice  they  would  be 

153 


154 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February 


gathered  from  one  to  three  times  a  day  as  needed  for  the  table,  and 
usually  by  those  doing  the  kitchen  work  rather  than  by  the  farmer 
himself. 

Although  the  price  of  labor  in  this  vicinity  has  changed  some- 
what since  the  experiment  began,  and  men  of  different  degrees  of 
efficiency  have  worked  in  the  garden,  it  has  been  thought  best  to 
enter  the  labor  at  a  uniform  rate  throughout  the  five  years,  that 
rate  being  based  upon  the  price  ruling  at  the  beginning  of  the  ex- 
periment. 


FIG.  1.    SLED  MARKER. 

So  far  as  possible  the  products  of  the  garden  were  gathered  each 
day  in  quantities  suited  to  the  requirements  of  a  well  regulated 
household ;  but  sometimes  a  particular  crop  with  a  short  period  of 
edibility  would  yield  much  more  heavily  than  was  expected,  and  in 
order  to  avoid  losing  the  crop,  it  would  be  necessary  to  harvest 
more  at  a  time  than  one  family  could  possibly  use.  In  all  cases,  an 
accurate  account  was  kept  of  everything  gathered  from  the  garden. 
At  the  end  of  the  season,  the  garden  was  credited  with  these  pro- 
ducts at  a  fair,  average,  retail  price.  The  prices  were  based  upon 
those  ruling  in  the  local  market  at  the  time  the  different  vegetables 
were  gathered.  If  the  price  for  a  given  vegetable  varied  consider- 
ably through  the  season,  the  entire  crop  was  rated  at  about  the 


1906.]'  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  155 

average  price.  Certain  vegetables  were  very  scarce  and  high  priced 
in  some  years,  and  consequently  have  not  been  rated  at  the  same  fig- 
ure every  year. 

Although  the  results  of  the  first  year's  work  in  this  garden  were 
published  in  Bulletin  No.  61,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  include  in 
the  present  publication  some  account  of  that  year's  work  as  well  as 
the  other  four,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  bulletin  mentioned  is  now 
out  of  print. 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  GARDEN  FOR  1900 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1900  twenty  loads  of  partially  rotted  ma- 
nure were  applied,  and  on  April  7th,  the  land  was  plowed,  disked 
and  planked.  April  9th,  it  was  harrowed  and  again  planked  to 
complete  the  preparation  of  the  seed  bed. 

A  permanent  row  of  perennial  vegetables  was  planted  three  feet 
from  the  east  boundary  of  the  garden ;  then  followed  four  rows  of 
small-growing  plants  in  drills  one  and  one-half  feet  apart,  and  a  va- 
cant space  for  another  row  to  be  planted  later  at  the  same  distance. 
West  of  these  narrow  rows  were  a  row  of  peas  and  two  of  early 
potatoes,  at  distances  of  three  feet.  This  planting  was  done  in  the 
freshly  prepared  soil  April  9th.  The  arrangement  of  the  different 
vegetables,  and  the  amount  of  space  allotted  to  each  are  indicated  in 
the  following  tabular  statement : 

Row   I. — 1A   row  asparagus,   l/(,   rqw  perennial  onions,   l/(>   row  horse-radish,   ^ 

row  rhubarb. 

Row  2. — Y2  row  parsnips,  l/(,  row  parsley,  Y$  row  salsify. 
Row  3. — y\  row  onion  sets,  20  ft.  cress,  J4  row  lettuce,  y2  row  spinach. 
Row  4. — Onions. 

Row  5. — VT.  row  early  beets,  VT.  row  early  carrots. 
Row  6. — Left  to  be  planted  with  late  beets  and  carrots. 
Row  7. — Peas :     */$  row  each  of  Nott's  Excelsior,  Hosford's  Market  Garden  and 

Improved  Stratagem. 
Rows  8  and  9. — Early  potatoes. 

The  division  of  the  various  rows  into  the  fractions  indicated  was 
facilitated  by  the  setting  of  conspicuous  stakes  at  the  proper  dis- 
tances on  either  side  of  the  garden. 

A  few  radish  seeds  were  scattered  along  with  the  other  seeds 
in  rows  2,  4  and  5,  in  order  that  the  seedlings  might  mark  the 
rows,  and  thus  allow  tillage  to  begin  before  the  young  carrots, 
onions,  etc.,  were  visible. 

Since  in  most  cases  only  part  of  a  row  was  devoted  to  each 
variety,  the  use  of  a  seed  drill  was  impracticable,  and  therefore  all 


156  BULLETIN  No.  105.  ^February 

seeds  were  dropped  by  hand.    In  most  cases  the  covering  was  done 
with  a  rake,  and  the  soil  firmed  with  the  back  of  a  hoe. 

The  second  planting  in  the  garden  was  made  May  ist,  at  which 
time  the  following  vegetables  were  put  in : 

Row  6. — 1A  row  late  beets,  ^  row  late  carrots.     (Marked  with  radishes.) 
Row  10. — y$  row  cabbage  and  cauliflower  plants:   85  Jersey  Wakefield  and  19 

Snowball;   y$  row  cabbage  seeds,  All  Head  Early. 
Row  II. — Beans:    Vz  row  Henderson's  Bush  Lima,    y±  row   Stringless   Green 

Pod,  J4  row  Saddleback  Wax. 

Row  12. — y$  row  cabbage  seed,  Autumn  King;    J^  row  spinach;    J/£  row  radish. 
Row  13. — Peas :     l/$  row  of  each  variety  as  before. 
Row  14. — Left  for  tomatoes  and  peppers. 
Row  15. — Sweet  corn :     l/2  row  Mammoth  White  Cory,  l/z  row  Chicago  Market. 

The  rest  of  the  garden  was  planted  May  23d,  as  indicated  below : 

Row  14. — 12  pepper  and  69  tomato  plants. 

Rows  16  and  17. — Sweet  corn :     l/2  row  each  of  Mammoth  White  Cory,  Chicago 

Market,  Stowell's  Evergreen,  and  Country  Gentleman. 
Rows  18  to  22. — Vine  crops :     40  hills  cucumbers.   10  hills  summer  squash,  30 

hills  winter  squash,  50  hills  watermelons,  80  hills  muskmelons. 

The  rows  of  vine  crops  were  six  feet  apart,  and  the  hills  six  to 
eight  feet  apart,  depending  upon  the  vigor  of  the  particular  crop. 
The  arrangement  of  these  crops  as  well  as  the  other  crops  of  the 
original  planting  is  clearly  shown  in  the  accompanying  diagram. 

July  23d,  the  strip  of  land  from  which  the  early  peas  and  po- 
tatoes had  been  harvested  was  cleared  of  vines,  plowed  with  a  one- 


FIG.  2.    NARROW-TOOTH  CULTIVATOR. 


horse  plow,  and  fitted  for  planting  by  means  of  a  narrow-tooth 
cultivator  and  a  one-horse  planker.    It  was  then  planted  as  follows : 

Row  7. — 1/2  row  celery,  1A  row  turnips. 

Row  8. — Turnips. 

Row  9. — 1/2  row  winter  radish,  J4  r°w  spinach,  J4  row  lettuce. 


1006.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


157 


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158 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February, 


A  late  planting  of  string  beans  was  also  made  at  this  date  in 
the  space  previously  occupied  by  the  early  planting  of  the  same  crop, 
and  a  few  cucumbers  for  pickles  were  planted  in  the  vacant  spaces 
among  the  early  cucumbers. 

This  season  most  of  the  tillage  of  the  garden,  except  the  hand 
hoeing,  was  done  with  a  narrow-tooth  cultivator  drawn  by  one 
horse.  More  hand  weeding  was  necessary  than  would  have  been 
the  case  if  no  weeds  had  been  allowed  to  seed  upon  the  area  the 
preceding  year. 

The  most  serious  insects  of  the  season  were  the  striped  cucum- 
ber beetle,  the  attacks  of  which  rendered  it  necessary  to  replant 
nearly  all  the  vine  crops,  and  the  squash  bug,  which  was  an  impor- 
tant factor  in  the  failure  of  the  winter  squash. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  labor  bestowed  upon  the 
garden  in  1900. 


TABLE  1. — SUMMARY  OF  LABOR  ON  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1900,  BY  HOURS 


April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Total. 

Work  with  team: 
Hauling'    and     spreading 
manure  

20 

20 

Plowing,  harrowing,  etc  . 

7 

% 

IX 

Total  team  work  

27 

% 

27% 

Work  with  one  horse: 
Cultivating  

1% 

4 

01  ' 

1 

1 

y* 

10 

Fitting  land  for  planting. 

1% 

IK 

Total  work  with  one  horse 

1% 

4 

3% 

1 

1 

% 

11% 

Hand  labor: 
Planting  

10 

15% 

5i 

4 

1 

31% 

Hoeing    and  other   hand 
tillage  

3% 

\y/a 

17 

• 

3 

43% 

Weeding  and  thinning... 
Fighting  insects  

84 
1 

1% 

v/» 

ya 

8 
•y 

23% 
6% 

Training  tomatoes  

3 

fa 

^ 

Clearing  land  after  crops 
Hand  work  on  celery  

\ 

2 

P 

8 

3'' 
10 

Total  hand  labor  

10 

27% 

29% 

25% 

21 

3 

8 

124% 

The  cost  of  this  labor  was  estimated  as  follows : 

Team  work,  27^  hours,  at  $3.00  per  day $  8.25 

Work  with  one  horse,  i il/2  hours,  at  $2.00  per  day 2.30 

Hand  labor,  124^  hours,  at  $1.25  per  day 15.56 

Total , ,.., ,.,....,. $26.11 


1906.]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  159 

The  only  other  expenses  in  connection  with  the  garden  were 
$5.45  for  seeds  and  plants  and  $.50  for  insecticides,  making  a  total 
cost  of  $32.06. 

THE  HARVEST 

The  first  products  of  the  garden  were  gathered  May  I2th,  and 
from  that  time  until  Octber  i/th,  when  the  first  killing  frost  oc- 
curred, a  supply  of  vegetables  was  brought  in  nearly  every  day.  All 
the  crops  included  in  the  original  planting,  except  the  cauliflower 


FIG.  3.    NETTED  GEM  MELON. 

and  winter  squash,  gave  satisfactory  results.  The  cauliflower  would 
probably  have  done  better  if  planted  earlier,  and  the  squash  might 
have  made  a  crop  if  provision  had  been  made  for  more  perfect  pro- 
tection from  insects.  Of  the  vegetables  planted  July  23d,  the  celery, 
winter  radishes,  beans,  and  cucumbers  produced  good  crops,  but  the 
spinach  and  lettuce  failed  to  grow,  and  nearly  all  the  turnips  died 
during  hot  weather. 

The  following  table  shows  the  time  during  which  each  vegetable 
was  used,  the  total  yield,  and  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  value 
of  the  crop  at  retail. 


160 


BULLETIN  N6.   10o. 


[February, 


TABLE  2.— SUMMARY  OP  PRODUCTS  OF-  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  AND  THEIR 

VALUE,  1900 


Period  of  use. 

Total  product. 

Retail 
price. 

Value 
of  crop. 

May  12  to  June  14... 

60  doz  

$    05 

$  3  00 

May  18  to  June  14... 

Supplv... 

Onions: 

May  24  to  Aug.  18. 

14  doz  

05 

.70 

After  Aug.  18  

2bu  

.75 

1.50 

Lettuce  

May  29  to  June  25 

12  baskets*  

10 

1  20 

Spinach.  .  

May  31  to  June  22 

9%  baskets  

10 

95 

Beet  greens  

June  5  to  June  16.  ... 

2  baskets  

.10 

.20 

Peas  

June  9  to  July  16  

23  pecks  

25 

5  75 

Early  beets  

June  13  to  July  25.  .. 

14  doz  

.10 

1.40 

Early  potatoes  

June  23  to  July  21... 

8%  bu  

75 

6  19 

String  beans: 
Early  

June  30  to  July  13.  .. 

8  pecks  

.30 

2.40 

Late  

Sept.  18  to  Oct.  5.... 

3%  pecks  

.30 

1.05 

Cabbage: 
Wakefield  

June  30  to  Aug  18.. 

65  heads     ..... 

03 

195 

Later  varieties. 

Aug.  28  to  Oct.  16  .  . 

74headsf  ••• 

.03 

2.22 

Early  carrots  

July  6  to  Oct.  16  

20%  doz  

.05 

1.02 

Sweet  corn  

July  11  to  Sept  1. 

72  doz  

10 

7.20 

Tomatoes: 
Ripe  

July  27  to  Oct.  8  

6%  bu  

50 

3.38 

Green  

Oct.  8  

5^  bu.. 

.50 

.37 

Lima  beans: 
First  crop  

July  31  to  Aug.  11... 

1%  pecks  

.30 

2.17 

Second  cropj  .... 

Oct.  1  to  Oct.  17  

8%  pecks  

.30 

263 

July  31  to  Oct.  8... 

6  pecks  

.25 

1.50 

Parsley  

Aug.  1  to  Nov.  1  ... 

Ample  supply.. 

Summer  squash.   ... 

Aug.  3  to  Aug.  22. 

44  

§\y. 

.55 

Cucumbers: 
Slicing  .......   . 

Aug.  3  to  Sept.  5  .... 

197.                     ...: 

01 

1.97 

Pickles  

Sept.  5  to  Oct.  10.  .  . 

600  

.0034" 

1.50 

Muskmelons  

Aug.  22  to  Oct.  4  

928  lb  • 

,Q\ya 

13.92 

Watermelons  

Aug.  23  to  Oct.  4  .  . 

1408  Ib  

.00% 

10.56 

^Vinter  squash  

After  Oct.  5  

19%  lb  

.01J/ 

.29 

Late  beets  

After  Oct.  16  

4  bu  

50 

2.00 

Late  carrots  

After  Oct.  16  

2  bu  

50 

1.00 

After  Oct.  17  ,. 

%bu  

50 

.25 

After  Oct.  17  

2  bu.  .   

.50 

1.00 

Salsify  

After  Oct.  17  

li^bu  .. 

.50 

.62 

Winter  radishes  
Celery  

After  Oct.  17  
After  Nov.  5  

2  bu  
12  doz  

.50 
.20 

1.00 
2.40 

$83.84 


*The  basket  used  was  a  ten-pound  climax  grape  basket,  and  was  crowded 
as  full  as  it  would  hold. 

tThe  cabbages  gathered  Oct.  16th  and  stored  for  winter  are  included 
in  this  number. 

JAf  ter  the  first  crop  was  gathered,  the  plants  blossomed  again  and  pro- 
duced the  second  crop. 

This  table  shows  that  the  products  of  the  garden  amounted  to 
$83.84.  The  entire  expense  of  maintaining  the  garden  was  $32.06, 
thus  leaving  a  profit  of  $51.78  from  the  half-acre. 


1906.]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  *  Ifil 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  GARDEN  FOR  1901 

In  order  to  secure  a  rotation  of  crops,  the  plan  of  the  garden  was 
reversed  in  1901,  so  that  planting  began  at  the  west  side  of  the  area 
with  the  annual  crops  which  in  1900  occupied  the  east  side.  The 
general  plan  for  planting  was  about  the  same  as  in  1900  except 
that  all  rows  were  placed  sufficiently  far  apart  to  admit  of  horse 
cultivation.  A  few  additions  were  made  to  the  assortment  of  veg- 
etables, with  a  view  to  securing  a  greater  variety  of  products  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  growing  season.  Some  slight  alterations 
were  also  made  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  space  allotted  each  veg- 
etable and  to  the  relative  dates  of  planting,  in  the  hope  of  securing 
a  better  succession  and  more  uniform  supply  of  products.  A  few 
changes  were  also  made  in  the  selection  of  varieties.  Extra  early, 
smooth-seeded  peas  were  added  to  the  list  to  make  sure  of  securing 
a  crop  even  if  the  weather  conditions  were  unfavorable  for  the  early 
planting  of  wrinkled  sorts.  Hosford's  Market  Garden  pea  was  dis- 
carded on  account  of  the  small  size  of  the  pods.  Burpee's  Dry 
Weather  cauliflower  was  substituted  for  the  Snowball  in  the  hope 
that  it  might  perfect  a  crop  in  spite  of  hot  weather. 

The  garden  was  plowed  November  13,  1900,  and  the  soil  left 
exposed  to  the  elements  during  the  winter.  On  April  loth,  the 
earliest  date  at  which  the  soil  was  in  suitable  condition  for  working, 
four  loads  of  well  rotted  manure  were  spread  upon  the  west  third 
of  the  garden,  and  worked  into  the  soil  by  disking  six  times.  After 
the  disking,  the  ground  was  smoothed  down  with  a  spike-tooth  har- 
row and  a  planker.  The  balance  of  the  garden  was  not  worked  until 


FIG.  4.    FLANKER. 


April  24th,  when,  after  the  application  of  eight  loads  of  well  rotted 
manure,  it  was  plowed  and  harrowed ;  and  that  portion  of  it  which 
was  needed  for  immediate  planting  was  planked.  The  unplanted 
portion  was  kept  harrowed  until  planted. 


162  BULLETIN  No.  105  [February, 

PLANTING 

As  soon  as  the  ground  was  prepared,  April  loth,  the  first  plant- 
ing of  hardy  vegetables  was  made,  in  rows  three  feet  apart,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Row  I. — VT.  row  parsnips,  J4  row  parsley,  1/3  row  salsify. 
Row  2. — Onions. 

Row  3. — H  row  early  beets,  */(,  row  early  turnips,  l/3  row  early  carrots. 
Row  4. — %  row  onion  sets,  l/s  row  lettuce,  l/2  row  spinach. 
Row  5. — Peas:    *A  row  each  of  Maude  S.  and  Nott's  Excelsior. 
Rows  6  and  7. — Early  potatoes. 

Rows  I,  2  and  3  were  marked  with  radishes. 
April  24th  the  following  vegetables  were  planted : 

Row  8. — 54  row  peas :     VT.  row  Nott's  Excelsior,  J4  r°w  Improved  Stratagem ; 

J4  row  beans,  Stringless  Green  Pod. 
Row  9. — 1/2   row  cabbage,  70  plants  Jersey  Wakefield ;    J4   r°w  cauliflower,  33 

plants;  J4  r°w  kohlrabi. 

May  2d,  after  the  implanted  portion  of  the  garden  had  been 
thoroughly  harrowed,  the  following  vegetables  were  put  in : 
Row  10. — Sweet  corn :     Y2  FOW  Peep  o'  Day,  1A  row  Early  Champion. 
Row  n. — 1/2  row  late  beets,  l/2  row  late  carrots.     (Marked  with  radishes.) 
Row  12. — 1/2  row  beans :     J4  r°w  Henderson's  Bush  Lima,  %  row  Saddleback 
Wax ;    Y(>  row  spinach ;    J/j  row  peas,  Improved  Stratagem. 

Planting  was  resumed  May  i6th  as  follows : 

Row  13. — Vz  row  beans :  V^  row  Henderson's  Bush  Lima,  J4  row  Stringless 
Green  Pod ;  1A  row  left  for  celery. 

Row  14. — Ys  row  left  for  egg  plants  and  peppers ;    ^  row  tomatoes. 

Row  15. — Sweet  corn :  J^  row  each  of  Early  Champion,  Early  Crosby  and  Coun- 
try Gentleman. 

May  23d  a  ridge  for  sweet  potatoes  was  thrown  up  with  a  plow 
and  shaped  with  a  hand  rake,  where  row  16  was  to  stand.  Part 
of  this  row  was  planted  to  sweet  potatoes  on  this  date,  but  the  last 
plants  to  complete  the  row  were  not  put  in  until  June  8th. 

By  June  1st,  the  celery  plants  grown  from  seed  sown  under 
glass  March  2d,  had  attained  sufficient  size  for  planting,  and  were 
set  in  the  space  left  for  them  in  row  13. 

June  7th,  sixteen  plants  each  of  peppers  and  egg  plant  were  set 
in  the  north  third  of  row  14.  Rows  17,  18,  and  19  were  laid  out 
six  feet  apart  and  planted  to  vine  crops  in  hills  six  feet  apart,  as 
follows:  24  hills  cucumbers,  6  hills  summer  squash,  18  hills  winter 
squash,  48  hills  watermelons,  45  hills  muskmelons. 

This  completed  the  planting  of  the  garden  over  to  the  perma- 
nent row  of  perennials.  Rows  I  to  13  inclusive  were  three  feet 
apart,  rows  13,  14,  15  and  16  were  four  feet  apart,  and  rows  16,  17, 
1 8,  19  and  20  (the  permanent  row)  six  feet  apart. 


1906.}  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  i6# 

Throughout  the  season  the  garden  was  kept  in  a  high  state  of 
cultivation  by  the  use  of  a  narrow-tooth  cultivator,  wheel  hoe  and 
hand  hoe.  Less  hand  weeding  was  required  than  in  1900  because 
no  weeds  had  been  allowed  to  go  to  seed. 

INSECT  ENEMIES 

The  first  insect  to  cause  serious  damage  in  the  garden  in  1901 
was  a  small  black  beetle  with,  red  thorax,  which  had  destroyed  all 
the  spinach  and  begun  on  the  beets  before  it  was  discovered.  It 
attacked  the  plants  soon  after  they  appeared  above  ground  and 
worked  very  rapidly.  A  spray  of  Paris  green  applied  to  the  re- 
maining beets  was  effective  against  this  insect;  but  so  few  beets 
were  left  that  the  row  was  replanted  June  ist,  care  being  taken  not 
to  disturb  the  beets  of  the  original  planting.  The  ground  left  vacant 
by  the  destruction  of  the  spinach  was  planted  to  seed  of  Autumn 
King  cabbage  on  the  same  day. 

The  striped  cucumber  beetle  was  held  in  check  by  repeated  appli- 
cations of  Bordeaux  mixture  containing  Paris  green.  Another 
species  of  insect,  however,  became  very  abundant  on  the  melons  and 
cucumbers  .during  the  hot,  dry  weather,  and  played  an  important 
part  in  causing  the  failure  of  these  crops.  This  insect  was  the  melon 
louse  or  aphis  (Aphis  Cucwneris,  Forbes),  and  made  its  first  ap- 
pearance about  July  2Oth.  Whale-oil  soap,  used  at  the  rate  of  eight 
pounds  to  50  gallons  of  water,  was  applied  twice ;  but  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  insects  work  upon  the  under  sides  of  the  leaves  and 
cause  the  edges  to  curl  down,  the  spray  was  only  partially  effective, 
and  many  individuals  remained  uninjured.  The  combined  influence 
of  the  insects  and  the  dry  weather  was  such  that  the  cucumber  vines 
were  all  dead  before  August  I5th,  and  the  melons  were  so  nearly 
dead  that  the  rains  after  that  date  failed  to  revive  them,  and  the  few 
melons  which  ripened  were  practically  worthless. 

The  squash  bug  (Anasa  tristis}  was  in  evidence  as  usual,  and 
cooperated  with  the  dry  weather  in  killing  all  the  squashes  before 
August  /th. 

A  species  of  very  small,  black  flea-beetle  attacked  the  egg  plants 
soon  after  they  were  set  out.  The  insects  appeared  in  immense  num- 
bers June  1 5th;  were  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  and  Paris  green  that 
evening,  and  caused  no  further  trouble.  However,  as  a  precaution- 
ary measure,  the  egg  plants  were  sprayed  whenever  the  Bordeaux 
and  Paris  green  mixture  was  applied  to  the  vine  crops  for  the  striped 
beetle. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  the  striped  blister  beetle  (Epicauta 
vittata,  Fabr.)  attacked  the  beets  and  tomatoes.  One  application  of 


164  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [February, 

Paris  green  proved  sufficient  to  free  the  plants  from  their  presence. 
Cabbage  worms  were  quite  numerous  on  the  late  cabbage,  but 
were  controlled  by  the  free  use  of  Paris  green. 

LATE  CROPS 

In  addition  to  the  replanting  made  necessary  by  the  destruction 
by  insects  of  the  original  plantings  of  spinach  and  beets,  and  the 
transplanting  of  late  cabbage  July  3d  to  fill  the  north  half  of  row 
4,  which  had  been  occupied  by  set  onions  and  lettuce,  the  planting 
of  late  crops  received  considerable  attention.     By  July  26th,  the 
peas,  potatoes,  string  beans,  early  cabbage,  cauliflower,  kohlrabi, 
and  Peep  o'  Day  corn  had  all  been  harvested,  and  the  strip  of  land 
previously  occupied  by  them  (comprising  rows  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  and  the 
north  half  of  row  10)  was  plowed,  harrowed,  and  planked.    How- 
ever, owing  to  the  excessively  dry  weather  the  land  could  not  be  put 
into  proper  condition  for  planting,  and  therefore  planting  was  de- 
ferred until  after  the  next  rain.  This  rain  was  so  long  in  coming  that 
the  planting  of  some  of  the  late  crops  was  more  in  the  nature  of  an 
experiment  than  with  any  assurance  of  their  having  time  to  per- 
fect their  products  before  the  close  of  the  season.     The  first  rain 
after  July  2d,  occurred .  August  i8th.     August  iQth,  the  strip  of 
land  above  mentioned  was  planked,  cultivated  and  again  planked ; 
then  marked  out  and  planted  as  follows  : 
Row  5. — Peas :    ^  row  each  of  Maude  S.  and  Improved  Stratagem. 
Row  6. — */2  row  string  beans,  TA  row  lettuce. 
Row   7. — Kohlrabi. 
Rows  8  and  9. — Turnips. 
Row  10. — 1/2  row  winter  radish. 

August  2Oth,  the  bean  stalks  were  removed  from  the  second 
fourth  of  row  13,  and  the  land  set  to  Giant  Pascal  celery.  The  seed 
from  which  the  celery  plants  were  grown  was  sown  in  flats  May 
9th  and  the  plants  pricked  off  into  shaded  frames  July  8th.  They 
grew  very  slowly  and  were  none  too  large  for  transplanting  when 
set  out.  For  use  in  a  normal  season  the  seed  should  have  been  sown 
early  in  April. 

The  late  crops  were  all  given  thorough  cultivation,  and  thinned 
and  weeded  whenever  necessary. 

TRAINING  TOMATOES 

Two  varieties  of  tomatoes  were  grown  in  1901.  One  was  an 
early  and  the  other  a  main  crop  variety.  To  further  increase  its 
earliness,  the  early  variety  was  pruned  to  single  stems ;  while  the 
plants  of  the  main  crop  variety  were  each  trained  to  three  stems, 


1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


165 


with  a  view  to  securing  a  larger  yield  than  could  be  obtained  from 
single  stem  plants.     Whether  pruned  to  a  single  stem  or  three 


FJG.  5.    TOMATO  PLANT 
PRUNED  TO  A  SINGLE  STEM. 


FIG.  6.    TOMATO  PLANT 
PRUNED  TO  THREE  STEMS. 


stems,  each  plant  was  supported  by  a  single  stake  about  five  feet 
high,  to  which  it  was  repeatedly  tied  by  means  of  soft  twine,  as  the 
season  advanced. 

LABOR 

A  summary  of  the  labor  account  for  1901  is  given  in  Table  3. 
In  hauling  and  spreading  the  manure  in  April,  two  men  worked  with 
the  team,  so  that  the  item,  "spreading  manure"  appears  under 
"hand  labor"  to  account  for  the  extra  man.  Likewise,  in  fighting 
the  insects  a  spraying  outfit  drawn  by  one  horse  and  operated  by  two 
men  was  frequently  used,  and  the  time  entered  under  "work  with 
one  horse"  and  also  under  "hand  labor."  This  outfit  was  also 
used  in  watering  the  celery,  and  the  time  charged  accordingly. 


166 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[Ftbrua'ry, 


TABLE  3.— SUMMARY  OF  LABOR  ON  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1901,  BY  HOURS 


Nov., 
1900 

April. 

May. 

June. 

July. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Total. 

Work  with  team: 
Hauling  and  spread- 
ing' manure  

8 

1 

9 

Plowing,    harrowing, 
etc  

2% 

6 

3 

11% 

Total  team  work  

2% 

14 

4 

20^ 

Work  with  one  horse: 
Fitting  land  for  plant- 
in  f.  . 

IV 

5 

1% 

8 

Cultivating  

J/2 

t\*A 

4ix 

\ya 

1% 

1 

% 

\\ya 

Soravinff.  . 

iyA 

J/2 

3*2 

2% 

8 

Watering  celery,  etc. 

2 

3 

% 

5% 

Total  work  with  one 
horse  

\ya 

5^ 

sy* 

\\y. 

«% 

1% 

X 

36 

Hand  labor: 
Spreading  manure.  .  . 
Planting  

6 

7 

1~y 

13  a/ 

2 

6 

1 

8 
37% 

Hoeing  and   other 
hand  tillage  

(/2 

2U 

11 

\-.ya 

8 

5 

1 

45 

Weeding    and    thin- 
ning   

3 

3% 

6% 

Fighting  insects  ..   . 
Training  tomatoes... 
Clearing    land   after 
crops  

% 

2% 
4 

5y4 

4% 
'2V0 

3% 

% 

2% 

12% 
9% 

5 

Watering  celery,  etc. 

2 

3 

X 

5% 

Total  hand  labor  

15 

10% 

34% 

33% 

21% 

9% 

4% 

129 

The  cost  of  this  labor  was  estimated  as  follows : 

Team  work,  20%  hrs.  at  $3.00  per  day , I  6.15 

Work  with  one  horse,  36  hrs.  at  $2.00  per  day  7 .20 

Hand  labor,  129  hrs.  at  81.25  per  day 16.13 

Total $29.48 

A  comparison  of  the  labor  accounts  for  1900  and  1901  shows 
that  the  cost  was  somewhat  greater  in  1901,  although*  less  manure 
was  applied  and  the  team  work  thus  reduced.  The  insects  were  much 
worse  than  in  1900,  necessitating  the  employment  of  considerable 
time  in  spraying.  An  attempt  was  also  made  to  produce  a  crop  of 
celery  in  spite  of  the  drought.  This  necessitated  the"  hauling  of  con- 
siderable water.  Some  time  was  consumed  in  replanting  where 
the  first  plantings  failed  to  grow,  and  in  experimenting  with  late 
crops  planted  after  the  rains  in  August,  so  that  the  total  time  occu- 
pied in  planting  was  greater  than  in  1900.  The  amount  of  hand 
hoeing  was  not  reduced  as  had  been  hoped.  Late  in  June  and  in  July, 
the  wheel  hoe  should  have  been  used  more  than  it  was.  The  large 


/m1.]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  167 

amount  of  time  expended  in  hand  hoeing  in  July  became  necessary 
because  of  a  very  heavy,  beating  rain,  followed  by  hot,  dry  weather 
which  baked  the  soil  so  hard  that  the  wheel  hoe  could  not  properly 
stir  it.  It  is  probable  that  if  the  soil  had  been  worked  at  just 
the  proper  time  after  the  rain,  this  difficulty  could  have  been 
avoided.  More  time  than  necessary  was  employed  in  an  attempt  to 
work  up  the  strip  of  land  from  which  early  crops  had  been  harvested, 
in  July.  Three  hours  were  lost  somewhere  in  the  pruning  and 
training  of  the  tomatoes,  though  the  number  of  plants  was  slightly 
less  than  in  1900.  On  the  other  hand  the  item  on  which  the 
great  saving  of  time  was  made,  was  "weeding  and  thinning,"  which 
in  1900  occupied  23^/2  hours,  and  in  1901  only  6l/2  hours.  This  great 
reduction  was  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  no  weeds  were  allowed  to 
go  to  seed  in  1900. 

THE  HARVEST 

The  first  products  of  the  garden,  the  perennial  onions,  were 
ready  for  use  May  ist,  and  from  that  time  until  October  5th,  when 
the  first  killing  frost  occurred,  a  supply  of  vegetables  of  some  sort 
was  constantly  available. 

Owing  to  the  excessively  hot,  dry  weather  during  July  and 
August,  and  the  abundance  of  injurious  insects,  more  crops  failed 
than  in  1900.  The  spinach  and  part  of  the  beets  failed  because  of 
insects ;  the  second  planting  of  Stringless  Green  Pod  beans  and  the 
late  corn,  because  of  hot  weather;  and  all  the  vine  crops,  on  ac- 
count of  a  combination  of  insects  and  dry  weather. 

Of  the  late  crops  planted  August  I9th  and  2Oth,  only  the  tur- 
nips and  winter  radishes  produced  satisfactory  results.  The  kohl- 
rabi seed  failed  to  germinate ;  the  lettuce  gave  a  very  poor  stand  ;  the 
beans  were  injured  by  a  slight  frost  September  I9th  and  produced 
no  crop;  the  Maude  S.  peas  set  a  small  crop  which  had  not  quite 
reached  edible  condition  when  ruined  by  frost,  October  5th;  and 
the  late  celery  was  too  small  to  be  of  any  value.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  the  turnips  produced  a  fair  crop  in  1901,  while  they  were 
an  entire  failure  in  1900.  This  difference  was  probably  due  to  the 
difference  in  time  of  planting. 

Aside  from  the  late  turnips,  the  only  crop  successful  in  IQOI 
which  was  a  failure  in  1900,  was  the  crop  of  early  cauliflower. 
Stronger  plants  were  used  than  in  1900,  and  they  were  set  out  a 
week  earlier.  Furthermore  the  variety  grown  in  1901  was  Burpee's 
Dry  Weather.  The  33  plants  produced  28  fine  heads,  averaging 
nine  to  ten  inches  across, 


168 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[FebruaTy, 


Although  more  crops  failed  than  in  1900,  a  slightly  larger  as- 
sortment was  planted,  so  that  the  failures  did  not  so  seriously  inter- 
fere with  the  continuity  of  the  supply  as  they  might  otherwise  have 
done.  The  thinnings  from  the  early  turnips  and  part  of  the  lettuce 
were  used  for  greens  in  place  of  spinach ;  the  egg  plants  added  to  the 
variety  in  September,  and  the  sweet  potatoes  were  available  in 
October. 


FIG.  7.    BURPEE'S  DRY  WEATHER  CAULIFLOWER. 


The  only  vegetables  left  in  the  ground  after  the  frost  of  October 
5th,  were  those  intended  for  winter  use.  Of  course  they  could  have 
been  drawn  upon  for  use  during  October,  but  in  order  to  save  time 
in  gathering,  they  were  left  in  the  ground  until  nearly  the  end  of  the 
month,  and  then  the  entire  product  was  gathered  and  stored. 

Table  4  gives  a  condensed  summary  of  the  products  of  the  gar- 
den, including  the  retail  prices  upon  which  their  values  were  based. 
Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  vegetables  in  the  market  during  the 
drought,  the  prices  of  some  things  were  very  high.  This  explains 
\vhy  a  few  of  the  products  were  rated  higher  than  in  1900. 


1906.1 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


160 


TABLE  4. — SUMMARY  OF  PRODUCTS  OF  FARMER'S    GARDEN,   AND    THEIR 

VALUE,   1901 


Period  of  use. 

Total  Product. 

Retail 
Price. 

Value 
of  crop. 

Onions: 
Green  

May  1  to  Aug.  3.   .  . 

61%  doz  

$  .05 

$3.08 

Ripe  

After  Aug  9  .... 

IV  bu 

1  00 

1.63 

Radishes: 
Earliest  White  .  .  . 

Mav  11  to  June  29... 

58  doz  

.02% 

1.45 

Cincinnati  Market 

May  18  to  July  11  ... 

81  doz  

.05 

4.05 

Lettuce: 
Regular  crop  

May  23  to  July  3 

24%  baskets  .  .  . 

10 

2  45 

Late  planting.   .  . 

Oct  31  

/-{J  basket  

10 

.05 

Turnip  greens  .  . 

May  24  to  30  

6  baskets  

.10 

.60 

Peas     

June  13  to  July  18.  .. 

16%  nks 

25 

4.09 

Early  turnips    

June  18  to  Julv  10.  .  . 

4%  doz.  . 

05 

.23 

Early  cabbage  

June  19  to  July  26  .. 

60  heads  

05 

3.00 

String  beans  

June  28  to  July  13.  .  . 

5  pks  

.30 

1.50 

Early  potatoes 

June  29  to  July  25.  .  . 

75^  bu. 

1  00 

7.75 

Early  beets  

July  1  to  Oct  2  

1  1  doz 

10 

1.10 

Kohlrabi  

July  3  to  28    

5%  doz 

10 

.55 

Cauliflower  

July  5  to  20           .... 

28  heads  

10 

2.80 

Tomatoes: 
Ripe  

July  9  to  Oct.  4  .... 

§y>  bu 

1  00 

9.50 

Green  

Oct  5   

6%  bu    .... 

50 

3.38 

Peppers  

July  11  to  Oct.  5  

3/^  pks       

25 

.88 

Early  carrots  

July  11  to  Aug.  19... 

12%  doz  

.05 

.63 

Sweet  corn  

July  12  to  Aug.  10  .  . 

21  doz       

.10 

2.10 

Lima  beans  

July  29  to  Sept   24  . 

6)6  pks 

40 

2.45 

Parsley  

Aug  3  to  Nov    I  .... 

Supply 

Ecror  nlant 

Sept  4  to  Oct   5    .  . 

20  fruits 

05 

1.00 

Sweet  potatoes  

After  Sept  23  

3%  bu  

1.00 

3.50 

Late  beets  

After  Oct   24    

1  bu 

50 

.50 

Late  carrots  

After  Oct   24  

2%  bu            

.50 

1.38 

Celery  

After  Oct.  24  

17  doz  

.10 

1.70 

Parsnips  

After  Oct.  26  

\VA  bu  . 

.50 

2.38 

Salsify  

After  Oct  26  

2  bu  

50 

1.00 

Horse-radish  
Late  cabbage  

After  Oct.  28  
After  Oct  31  

30  Ib  
38  heads  ........ 

.02 
.03 

.60 
1.14 

Turnips  

After  Oct  31  

2  bu  

.50 

1.00 

Winter  radishes  

After  Oct.  31  

2  bu  

.50 

1.00 

$68.47 

PROFITS 

As  shown  in  the  table  the  value  of  the  products  from  the  garden 
in  1901  was  $68.47.  The  items  of  expense  for  the  year  were  as 
follows : 

Seeds  and  plants $4.08 

Insecticides 1.50 

Labor 29.48 


Total $3S.o6 

The  net  profits   from  the   season's  operations  were  therefore 
$33.41.     This  amount  is  considerably  less  than  the  profits  in  1900 


170  BULLETIN  No.  105. 

owing  partly  to  the  greater  amount  of  labor  occasioned  by  the 
greater  abundance  of  insects,  but  more  largely  to  the  failure  of  cer- 
tain crops,  notably  the  melons,  which  in  1900  produced  a  crop  valued 
at  $24.48. 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  GARDEN  FOR  1902 

In  1902  the  plan  of  the  garden  was  again  shifted  so  that  plant- 
ing began  at  the  east  side  as  in  1900.  An  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
duce the  amount  of  hand  labor  by  making  free  use  of  the  wheel  hoe, 
and  by  doing  less  experimenting  upon  uncertain  late  crops  than  in 
1901.  A  few  changes  in  the  list  of  varieties  were  introduced,  and 
the  times  of  planting  so  regulated  as  to  provide  a  continuous  succes- 
sion of  vegetables  throughout  the  season.  Since  the  spring  opened 
earlier  than  in  the  two  preceding  years,  most  of  the  plantings  were 
made  relatively  earlier. 

From  October  26  to  November  2,  1901,  twenty-seven  loads  of 
half-rotted  manure  were  hauled  and  spread  upon  the  garden.  These 
loads  averaged  2,400  pounds  each,  so  that  the  weight  of  the  manure 
applied  to  the  half-acre  was  approximately  32  tons.  The  land  was 
plowed  deeply  November  6th,  without  any  difficulty  being  expe- 
rienced in  turning  under  the  heavy  application  of  manure. 

March  29,  1902,  the  entire  garden  was  disked  and  harrowed  and 
the  east  third  was  planked  for  immediate  planting.  The  ground 
was  so  loose  that  it  worked  up  very  nicely  without  plowing.  All  of 
the  garden  except  that  planted  March  29th  was  harrowed  at  frequent 
intervals  until  time  for  planting  the  later  crops.  The  land  used  for 
the  vine  crops,  late  corn,  tomatoes,  etc.,  was  harrowed  four  times 
between  April  ist  and  May  loth.  Usually  the  harrowing  was 
done  while  going  to  the  field  to  do  other  work,  so  that  very  little  time 
was  consumed  in  the  operation. 

PLANTING 

Beginning  with  row  2,  three  feet  from  the  permanent  row  of 
asparagus,  etc.,  the  following  vegetables  were  planted  in  rows  three 
feet  apart,  March  29th. 

Row  2. — */•  row  parsnips,  ^  row  parsley,  l/3  row  salsify. 

Row  3. — Onions. 

Row  4. — 1/2  row  early  beets,  l/2  row  early  carrots. 

Row  5. — Vd,  row  onion  sets,  l/(>  row  lettuce,  l/(>  row  early  turnips,  l/2  row  spinach. 

Row  6. — Peas :    l/2  row  Maude  S.,  l/z  row  Nott's  Excelsior. 

Rows  7  and  8. — Early  potatoes. 

Rows  2,  3  and  4  were  marked  with  radishes. 

The  method  of  sowing  the  peas  was  as  follows :     With  one 


1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


171 


plowshare  on  the  Iron  Age  wheel  hoe  rigged  as  a  single  wheeler, 
a  drill  was  made.  The  seed  was  sown  by  hand.  Then,  without 
changing  the  position  of  the  first  plowshare,  the  other  was  put  on 
and  the  seed  covered  by  running  the  implement  with  one  plow  on 
each  side  of  the  drill. 


FIG.  8.    WHEEL  HOE. 


April  1 8th,  row  9  was  planted  as  follows: 

]/4  row  Wakefield  cabbage,  35  plants ;    ^4  row  cauliflower,  35  plants ;    l/2  row 
peas,  Nott's  Excelsior. 

The  cabbage  and  cauliflower  plants  had  been  grown  under  glass 
at  a  comparatively  low  temperature,  from  seeds  planted  in  flats 
March  ist.  The  cabbage  plants  had  been  shifted  to  other  flats 
March  26th,  and  the  cauliflowers,  April  ist.  April  nth,  these  flats 
were  placed  in  a  coldframe  and  the  plants  hardened  off.  At  the 
time  of  transplanting  into  the  garden,  the  cabbage  plants  were  of 
just  the  right  size,  but  most  of  the  cauliflowers  were  still  rather 
small;  they  would  have  been  better  if  the  seed  had  been  planted  a 
week  earlier  than  the  cabbage. 

April  28th,  the  following  vegetables  were  planted : 
Row  10. — Y2   row  peas,  Improved  Stratagem;    l/2  row  beans,   Stringless   Green 

Pod. 

Row  ii. — Sweet  corn:     l/2  row  Mammoth  White  Cory,  l/2  row  Chicago  Market. 
Row  12. — 1/2  row  late  beets,  1A  row  late  carrots. 
Row   13- — ^2   row  beans,  Henderson's  Bush  Lima;    '/4  row  cabbage,  35  plants 

Market  Gardener's  No.  2;    %  row  of  same  (seed  sown  in  drill). 


172  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [February, 

The  beets  were  marked  with  Cincinnati  Market  and  the  carrots 
with  Earliest  White  radishes.  The  cabbage  plants  were  from  seed 
planted  under  glass  March  I5th  and  handled  as  those  previously 
mentioned. 

The  main  planting  of  warm  season  crops  was  made  May  loth, 
when  the  following  vegetables  were  put  in : 

Row  14. — Cabbage,  Autumn  King  (seed  sown).     (Marked  with  radishes.) 
Row  15. — 1A  row  peppers,  24  plants  Ruby  King;    34  row  tomatoes,  24  plants 
Freedom  and  47  plants  Stone.     (This  row  was  four  feet  distant  from 
the  rows  upon  either  side.) 

Row  16. — Sweet  corn :     y2  row  Chicago  Market,  1A  row  Country  Gentleman. 
Rows  17,  18,   19. — Vine  crops :     21  hills  cucumbers,  9  hills  summer  squash,  15 
hills  winter  squash,  45  hills  watermelons,  45  hills  muskmelons. 

The  tomato  plants  were  exceedingly  well  grown  specimens.  The 
seed  had  been  planted  in  flats  in  a  cool  greenhouse  March  I5th,  and 
the  plants  shifted  to  2,^/2  inch  pots  April  i2th,  and  again  to_3}4 
inch  pots  April  3Oth.  They  were  hardened  off  in  a  coldframe  be- 
fore being  transferred  to  the  garden.  The  peppers  were  still  very 
small  when  transplanted.  The  seed  should  have  been  planted  March 
ist  instead  of  March  I5th. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  planting  of  vine  crops  indicated  above,, 
a  row  of  summer  squash  was  planted  three  feet  west  of  row  19,  to> 
be  used  as  a  trap  crop  for  the  striped  beetle. 

May  29th,  row  20,  the  last  row  on  the  west  side  of  the  garden,, 
was  planted  to  24  egg  plants  and  $4  row  of  sweet  potatoes.  The: 
sweet  potato  plants  had  been  grown  in  sand  on  the  propagating; 
bench  of  a  greenhouse,  from  home  grown  tubers  stored  over  in  a  box: 
of  dry  white  sand  in  the  basement.  The  tubers  were  placed  on  the: 
bench  April  ist.  In  order  to  save  labor,  the  plants  were  set  on  the' 
level  instead  of  on  a  ridge  as  in  1901.  As  will  be  seen  later  on,  the- 
season  proved  unfavorable  for  level  culture,  so  that  nothing  was; 
gained. 

At  this  date  also,  the  cucumbers  and  part  of  the  watermelons  had 
to  be  replanted,  owing  to  the  destruction  of  the  original  planting  by 
the  striped  beetle.  A  few  vacant  spaces  in  the  row  of  bush  limas, 
where  the  seed  had  failed  to  grow,  were  also  filled  at  this  time. 

The  plan  of  the  garden  this  year  was  superior  to  those  of  the 
two  preceding  years  in  that  the  vegetables  were  arranged  strictly  in 
the  order  of  planting,  and  could,  therefore,  be  planted  in  freshly 
worked  soil  without  the  inconvenience  of  preparing  a  narrow  strip 
of  unplanted  land  between  rows  already  planted.  The  accompanying 
diagram  will  serve  to  fix  in  mind  the  exact  arrangement 


1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


173 


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174  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [ 

CULTIVATION 

The  garden  was  kept  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation  throughout 
the  entire  season.  Tillage  with  the  wheel  hoe  was  commenced 
April  1 8th,  and  up  to  May  loth,  no  other  tool  was  used.  While  the 
plants  were  small,  the  rake  attachments  of  this  implement  were  em- 
ployed. Later,  the  cultivator  teeth  were  used  almost  exclusively.  Be- 
fore tillage  with  the  horse  cultivator  was  commenced,  the  wheel  hoe 
was  run  both  astride  and  between  the  rows,  thus  stirring  the  entire 
surface.  Later  on,  it  was  run  simply  astride  the  rows  to  stir  the  soil 
close  about  the  plants.  This  tool  was  also  used  in  cultivating  among 
the  melons  after  the  vines  had  run  so  far  as  to  make  horse-tillage 
inconvenient.  No  hand  hoeing  was  done  except  where  it  was  im- 
practicable to  use  the  wheel  hoe  to  advantage;  for  example,  be- 
tween the  tomatoes,  egg  plants,  cabbages,  and  melons,  after  they 
had  nearly  completed  their  growth. 

The  narrow-tooth  cultivator  was  used  in  most  of  the  horse- 
tillage,  though  occasionally  after  the  soil  had  become  packed  by  a 
heavy  rain,  the  five-shovel  cultivator  was  first  run  through,  and 
then  followed  by  the  narrow-tooth. 

Although  the  season  was  wet  and  the  conditions  extremely  fa- 
vorable for  weed  growth,  the  tillage  was  so  thorough  and  the  weed 
seeds  so  scarce  on  account  of  good  tillage  the  two  preceding  years, 
that  very  little  hand  weeding  became  necessary,  no  more  time  being 
consumed  in  weeding  and  thinning  than  in  1901  when  the  weather 
was  exceptionally  dry. 

INSECT  ENEMIES 

The  cucumbers  and  other  vines  came  up  Sunday,  May  i8th.  The 
striped  beetles  immediately  began  working  upon  them  and  devoured 
most  of  the  cucumbers  before  Monday  morning.  Tobacco  powder 
was  applied  Monday  to  the  regular  plantation,  and  pure  dry  Paris 
green  to  part  of  the  trap  crop  of  squashes  previously  mentioned. 
The  following  day,  a  mixture  of  air-slaked  lime,  Paris  green  and 
turpentine  was  applied.  Rain  occurred  in  the  afternoon  and  follow- 
ing night,  and  washed  off  most  of  the  material  so  that  a  fresh  appli- 
cation had  to  be  made  the  next  morning  (May  2ist).  A  number  of 
dead  beetles  were  seen  lying  about  the  plants  at  this  time.  After 
this  the  plants  were  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture  and  Paris  green 
three  times;  viz. :  May  26th,  June  6th,  June  loth. 

In  spite  of  this  thorough  treatment,  it  seemed  impossible  to 
maintain  a  stand  of  cucumbers.  As  already  mentioned,  the  patch 
was  replanted  May  29th.  By  June  27th,  the  striped  beetles  had 


1906.  j  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  1?5 

devoured  the  last  of  the  plants  from  this  second  planting,  and  the 
area  was  planted  for  the  third  time. 

Small  black  flea-beetles  repeatedly  attacked  the  egg  plants,  punc- 
turing the  leaves  full  of  small  round  holes.  A  mixture  of  air-slaked 
lime  and  Paris  green  was  applied  for  the  purpose  of  killing  these 
insects  July  3d,  and  Bordeaux  and  Paris  green  mixture  was  used 
August  8th,  22d,  and  September  5th.  Adults  of  the  Colorado  po- 
tato beetle  also  attacked  the  egg  plants,  biting  off  many  of  the  leaves. 
They  were  killed  by  the  use  of  lime  and  Paris  green  July  2ist  An- 
other lot  were  working  on  the  plants  August  22d,  and  were  treated 
with  Bordeaux  and  Paris  green  along  with  the  flea-beetles. 

Cabbage  worms  caused  very  little  trouble  this  year.  Only  once 
during  the  season  was  the  application  of  an  insecticide  necessary. 
That  was  late  in  July,  when  an  application  of  air-slaked  lime  and 
Paris  green  was  made  to  the  late  cabbage.  The  plants  were  still 
quite  small  and  had  not  begun  to  form  heads  at  this  time. 

The  squash  bugs  laid  a  good  many  eggs,  but  did  no  serious 
damage  to  the  crop.    The  squash  vines  made  an  exceedingly  vigor- 
ous growth  owing  to  rich  soil  and  moist  weather,  and  rooted  at  the 
joints  so  that  they  would  not  easily  have  succumbed  to  even  a  se 
vere  attack. 

TRAINING  TOMATOES 

A  stake  five  feet  long  was  driven  beside  each  plant  the  same  as 
in  preceding  years,  and  the  plant  was  kept  tied  to  this  stake,  by  ty- 
ing at  intervals  of  about  two  weeks  from  the  time  the  plants  were 
well  established  until  they  had  extended  above  the  tops  of  the  stakes. 
Early  in  the  season  the  plants  were  pruned  as  well  as  tied.  The 
Freedom  plants  were  pruned  to  single  stems  and  the  Stone  to  three 
stems  per  plant.  The  Freedom  were  pruned  four  times  between 
May  27th  and  July  loth,  and  then  tied  twice  more.  The  Stone  were 
pruned  only  three  times  and  then  simply  kept  tied  to  the  stakes.  The 
last  tying  was  done  August  I4th. 

LATE  CROPS 

By  July  5th,  all  the  vegetables  had  been  harvested  from  rows  5, 
6,  and  7,  and  the  strip  of  land  thus  left  vacant  was  plowed  and  fitted 
for  planting  on  that  date.  A  one-horse  plow  and  narrow-tooth 
cultivator  were  used  for  this  work.  On  this  area  two  rows  of  late 
crops  were  planted  3^  feet  apart,  as  follows :  y2  row  string  beans, 
YZ  row  celery,  ^  row  sweet  corn  (Chicago  Market),  Y*  row  field 
corn  west  of  celery  to  shade  the  same.  . 

The  celery  plants  had  been  grown  from  seed  sown  in  flats  in  a 
greenhouse  April  ist,  and  later  pricked  out  into  other  flats  and  kept 
in  an  open  frame.  They  were  good  strong  plants,  though  a  trifle 


176 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


too  tall.  They  might  have  been  sheared  to  advantage  a  couple  of 
weeks  before  transplanting.  These  plants  were  set  in  the  bottom 
of  a  furrow  about  six  inches  deep  made  with  a  one-horse  plow.  The 
early  tillage  of  the  celery  was  given  by  means  of  a  double  wheel  hoe, 
with  only  one  cultivator  tooth  on  each  side.  With  the  tool  arranged 
thus,  it  was  possible  to  work  close  to  the  plants  in  the  bottom  of  the 
trench.  The  trench  was  gradually  filled  up  as  the  season  advanced 
and  the  celery  was  finally  "handled"  and  banked  in  the  usual  manner. 
July  22d,  the  cabbage  and  cauliflower  stumps,  pea  vines,  and 
bean  stalks  were  cleared  from  rows  9  and  10,  and  August  2d,  the 
corn  stalks  were  cut  from  row  n.  August  7th,  the  strip  between 
the  late  planted  corn  above  mentioned,  and  row  12,  was  plowed, 
cultivated,  and  planked.  On  the  same  date  it  was  planted  in  rows 
three  feet  apart  to  y2  row  of  winter  radishes,  and  3^  rows  of  tur- 
nips. The  turnips  and  winter  radishes  were  cultivated  with  the 
wheel  hoe  once,  and  with  the  narrow-tooth  cultivator  twice.  They 
were  weeded  and  thinned  September  3d. 

LABOR 

A  summary  of  the  labor  account  for  1902  is  given  in  Table  5. 
TABLE  5.— SUMMARY  OF  LABOR  ON  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1902,  BY  HOURS 


si 

A 

-p 

O3 

|4 

<u 

f: 

U, 

0) 

^r 

o 
i* 

rt 

C 

a 

rt 

a 

3 

9 
b£ 

B 

<u 

,0 

o 

-!-> 

0 

°l 

s 

< 

>-7 

3 

<5 

p- 

<L) 

03 

o 
O 

H 

Work  with  team: 

Hauling   and    spreading 

27 

27 

Plowing,  harrowing,  etc... 

2% 

3M 

% 

M 

6% 

Total  team  work  

•?9V 

3V 

y> 

V 

33  y 

/2 

/4 

Work  with  one  horse: 

Fitting  land  for  planting  

% 

1 

1% 

3 

2 

7 

4 

1 

1 

V 

151/ 

Spraying"    . 

14 

1 

V 

V 

?V 

Total  work  with  one  horse  .  . 

3 

8 

5 

3 

1^ 

X 

20% 

Hand  labor: 

Spreading  manure  

97 

27 

4 

3V 

6V 

3V 

1 

18V 

Cultivating  with  wheel  hoe. 

2 

3% 

% 

4 

10% 

Hand  hoeing  

IM 

1   y/ 

91/1 

IX4 

6V 

Weeding  and  thinning  

2% 

1 

>2 

2% 

Fighting  insects  

2 

IV 

3/ 

V 

V 

434 

Training  tomatoes  

3V 

2V 

9V 

Clearing  land  after  crops.  .. 

% 

1 

1 

5 

7% 

Handling  and  banking  celery 

1 

4 

5 

Total  hand  labor  

27 

4 

6% 

19% 

7% 

14% 

5 

3% 

9 

96 

1906.}  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  177 

The  cost  of  labor  on  the  garden  for  1902  may  be  estimated  as 
follows: 

Team  work,  33^  hrs.  at  $3.00  per  day $10.13 

Work  with  one  horse,  20^4  hrs.  at  $2.00  per  day 4.15 

Hand  labor,  96  hrs.  at  $1.25  per  day 12.00 


Total $26.28 

Comparing  the  labor  items  with  those  of  the  two  preceding  years 
it  will  be  seen  that  a  larger  amount  of  team  work  was  employed, 
owing  to  the  much  larger  amount  of  manure  hauled  and  applied.  The 
spreading  of  so  much  manure  also  greatly  added  to  the  account  for 
hand  labor.  That  this  time  was  well  spent  can  be  seen  by  reference 
to  the  table  giving  the  yields  of  vegetables.  A  great  saving  was 
made  in  the  time  required  to  plant  the  garden.  This  was  largely  due 
to  the  following  facts :  The  ground  was  always  in  prime  condition 
at  the  time  of  planting ;  one  man  worked  alone  and  so  lost  no  time 
in  directing  the  work  of  others ;  moreover,  this  man  thoroughly  un- 
derstood his  business  and  worked  with  a  view  to  making  the  labor 
account  as  small  as  possible.  This  same  statement  is  true  in  refer- 
ence to  nearly  all  of  the  hand  labor  in  the  garden  this  season.  As  a 
result,  the  time  spent  in  hand  labor  was  much  less-  than  in  the  pre- 
ceding years  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  27  hours  were  consumed  in 
spreading  manure.  The  substitution  of  the  wheel  hoe  for  the  hand 
hoe  whenever  possible,  reduced  the  hand  hoeing  to  6l/2  hours.  The 
total  amount  of  time  consumed  in  hand  tillage  (with  hand  and 
wheel  hoc)  was  only  17^4  hours,  against  43^4  hours  in  1900  and  45 
hours  in  1901.  The  item  for  weeding  and  thinning  was  only  6^ 
hours,  the  same  as  in  1901,  even  though  the  season  was  very  wet. 
Insects  were  much  less  troublesome  than  in  1901,  so  less  time  was 
consumed  in  fighting  them.  More  time  was  used  in  clea-ring  land 
after  crops  than  should  have  been.  The  man  who  did  the  final  clear- 
ing in  October  preparatory  to  plowing  stretched  the  job  over  a  full 
half  day.  Aside  from  the  spreading  of  manure,  the  total  amount  of 
hand  labor  expended  on  the  half-acre  garden  in  1902  was  only  69 
hours.  In  1901,  it  was  121  hours  and  in  1900,  it  was  124^2  hours. 

THE  HARVEST 

The  perennial  onions  were  ready  to  pull  April  i8th,  and  the  first 
asparagus  was  cut  April  23d.  From  that  time  there  was  a  con- 
stant supply  of  vegetables  through  the  whole  season,  and  plenty  to 
store  for  winter.  Nearly  all  the  vegetables  planted  yielded  satisfac- 
tory crops  and  some  of  the  yields  were  enormous.  The  season  was 


178 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February  i 


rather  cool  and  wet,  so  that  the  cool  season  crops  did  especially  well. 
The  few  exceptions  to  the  generally  good  crops  were  the  watermel- 
ons, a  part  of  which  were  damaged  by  floods  and  the  rest  of  which 
were  so  delayed  by  cool  weather  that  only  part  of  the  crop  ripened 
even  though  there  was  no  frost  until  the  night  of  October  I3th;  the 
sweet  potatoes,  which  were  small  and  slender  owing  to  wet  weather 
and  unfavorable  position ;  the  cucumbers,  which  were  nearly  ruined 
by  insects,  and  the  turnips,  which  failed  from  some  unknown  cause. 
Table  6  gives  the  amount  of  space  occupied  by  each  planting  of 
each  vegetable,  the  date  of  planting,  the  number  of  days  from  plant- 
ing until  the  first  of  the  crop  was  in  edible  condition,  the  period  of 
use,  and  the  yield. 

TABLE  6.— PRODUCTS  OF  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1902 


Space 
occupied, 
rows. 

Date  of 
planting. 

Days 
to 
edible 
condi- 
tion. 

Period  of  use. 

Yield. 

Onions: 
Green  — 
Perennial  

y. 

April  18  to  May  15 

60  doz 

From  sets  

i/. 

March  29  .  . 

48 

May  16  to  June  26 

16  doz 

From  seed  

March  29  .. 

90 

June  27  to  July  1 

2  doz 

Ripe  

1 

March  29.  .  . 

147 

x\fter   August  23 

2  bu 

Asparagus^  

% 

April  23  to  May  14 

24%  Ib 

RadishestJ 
Earliest  White- 
First  planting  

2 

March  29.  .  . 

39 

May  7  to  14  

58  doz. 

Second  planting  .  .  . 

VA 

April  28  

25 

May  23  to  26  

18  doz 

Cincinnati  Market- 
First  planting.    .. 
Second  planting.  .  . 
Third  planting  .... 
Lettuce:  

l 
% 

1A 

March  29.  .  . 
April  28  
May  10  
M  arch  29.  .  . 

47 
29 
25 

May  15  to  22  
May  27  to  June  3 
June  4  to  16  

31  doz. 
17  doz. 
65  doz. 

Thinnings  .   

47 

May  15  to  June  10 

10%  bskts. 

Heads  

76 

June  13  to  18.    ... 

1  doz. 

Turnip  greens  

1A 

March  29.  .  . 

47 

May  15  to  20  . 

5  bskts 

Spinach  

X 

March  29.  .  . 

53 

May  21  to  June  14 

27  bskts. 

Beet  greens: 
Thinnings  from  early 
beets  

•% 

March  29.  .. 

57 

May  26  to  28  . 

2  bskts. 

Thinnings  from  late 
beets  

I/ 

April  28 

49 

June  16     

6  bskts 

Peas: 
Maude  S   

y. 

March  29 

66 

June  3  to  14  

3%  pks. 

Nott's  Excelsior- 
First  planting  
Second  planting... 
Improved  Stratagem 
Early  beets  

% 

y 
% 

March  29... 
AprillS.... 
April  28.... 
March  29. 

72 
59 
75 
73 

June  9  to  12  
June  16  to  18  
July  12  to  21  
June  10  to  Aug.  30 

2%  pks. 
2%  pks. 

\y±  pks. 

28  doz. 

Early  turnips  

l/6 

March  29.  .. 

74 

June  11  to  26  

8  doz. 

Cauliflower  

% 

AprillS  

55 

June  12  to  July  22 

33  heads 

Earlv  potatoes  

2 

March  29.  .  . 

77 

June  14  to  July  23 

8%bu. 

1906.]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 

TABLE  6. — Continued. 


179 


Space 
occupied 
rows. 

Date  of 
Planting. 

Days 
to 
edi  ble 
condi- 
tion. 

Period  of  use. 

Yield. 

Cabbage: 
Wakefield..   

y. 

April  18 

57 

June  14  to  July  5 

33  heads 

Market     Gardener's 
No.  2— 
Transplanted  

% 

April  28  . 

75 

July  12  to  Aug   8 

32  heads 

% 

April  28 

103 

Aug.  9  to  30 

32  heads 

Autumn  King  

1 

May  10.  .  . 

114 

Sept.  1  to  Oct  17 

100  heads 

String  beans: 
Early  crop  

X 

April  28  

52 

June  19  to  July  9 

6%  pks 

V 

July  5 

52 

Aug.  26  to  Sept.  10 

4X  pks 

Early  carrots  

X 

March  29  .  . 

90 

June  27  to  Oct.  8 

18  doz 

Parsley  

if 

March  29 

94 

July  1  to  Nov    12 

Supply 

Sweet  corn: 
Cory  

i/ 

April  28  . 

71 

July  8  to  23  

16  doz 

Chicago  Market  — 
First  planting  

X 

April  28.... 

80 

July  17  to  22  

8X  doz 

Second  planting 

i/ 

May  10 

75 

July  24  to  30 

1034  doz 

Late  planting  
Country  Gentleman  . 

V 
V 

July  5  .... 
May  10  

65 

88 

Sept.  8  to  10  
Aug.  6  to  25...   . 

4X  doz. 
25  doz. 

Tomatoes: 
Freedom  

% 

May  10.  ... 

63 

July  12  to  Oct.  13 

4  85  bu 

Stone  —  

% 

MavlO. 

Ripe  fruit.  ........ 

72 

July  21  to  Oct.  13 

13  49  bu 

Green  fruit 

Oct.  1  and  2  

3%  bu. 

Squash: 
Summer  Crookneck.  . 

15  hills 

May  10.... 
May  10. 

63 
126 

July  12  to  Sept.  9 
After  Sept.  13    . 

129 

689  Ib. 

Lima  beans  

•% 

April  28  

89 

July  26  to  Sept.  29 

5%  pks. 

% 

May  10  

89 

Aug.  7  to  Oct.  13 

T.arfp  . 

29  doz 

Small  

3X  pks. 

E&&  olant  . 

% 

May  29.    .. 

81 

Aug  18  to  Oct.  13 

85  fruits 

Cucumbers  

24  hills 

June  27    . 

56 

Aug.  22  to  Sept.  9 

13 

Muskmelons: 
Netted  Gem  

24  hills 

May  10  

108 

Aug.  26  to  Sept.  24 

194%  Ib. 

Beck's  Strawberry  .  . 

21  hills 

May  10  

115 

Sept.  1  to  Oct.  6 

262Xlb. 

Watermelons: 
Fordhook  

24  hills 

May  10     . 

115 

Sept.  1  to  Oct.  8 

190  Ib 

Mclver's  Sugar.  .  .  . 

21  hills 

May  10  

138 

Sept.  25  to  Oct.  8 

^45  Ib. 

Sweet  potatoes  

% 

May  29  

137 

After  Oct.  13  

2%  bu. 

Winter  radishes  
Late  turnips.  

X 
334 

Aug.  7  
Aug.  7.. 

71 
71 

After  Oct.  17.... 
After  Oct.  17... 

2%  bu. 
IX  bu. 

Late  carrots  

X 

April  28 

171 

After  Oct.  17  

1V9  bu. 

Late  beets  

X 

April  28 

171 

After  Oct.  17  

9  bu. 

Parsnips  

X 

March  29 

201 

After  Oct.  17.  .. 

3  8  bu. 

Salsify  

V 

March  29.  .  . 

201 

After  Oct.  17  

1  bu. 

Celery  

Q 

July  5  

128 

After  Nov.  10  

15X  doz. 

J  The  asparagus  was  cut  only  three  weeks  because  the  roots  were  young. 
\\  The  radishes  were  planted  mainly  to  mark  the  rows  of  other  vegetables,  so 
the  yields  were  much  smaller  than  if  the  crop  had  occupied  the  whole  space. 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[  February , 


On/ons. 


Lettuce 

y>j» 


Beet   grr-een-s. 


Earr/y  beef<s_ 
E&r/y  turni/o<s_ 


be crn >$. 


P&r<s/ey, 

\y  we  e  t  corn  _  . 


Pe/o/oer-s 

Cucc/mbers, . 


Sweet  foofatoe-S- 


PIAGRAM  SHOWING  SUCCESSION  OF  VEGETABLES  IN  1902. 


1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


181 


The  succession  of  vegetables  through  the  season  is  graphically 
represented  by  the  accompanying  diagram,  and  a  summary  of  the 
products,  including  the  retail  price  and  the  value  of  the  crop  for 
each  vegetable,  is  given  in  Table  7.  The  root  crops,  etc.,  stored  for 
winter  use  are  not  included  in  the  diagram. 

TABLE  7.— SUMMARY  OF  PRODUCTS  OP  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1902 


Period  of  use. 

Total  product. 

Retail 
price. 

Value 
of  crop. 

Onions: 
Green  ... 

April  18  to  July  1.. 

78  doz  

$  .05 

$3  90 

Ripe  

After  Aug.  23..".  .  .  . 

2  bu  

.75 

1  50 

Asparagus  

April  23  to  May  14.. 

24Xlb.. 

.05 

1.23 

Radishes: 
Earliest  White  

May  7  to  26  

76  doz  

.02^ 

1.90 

Cincinnati  Market 

May  15  to  June  16 

113  floz    

.05 

5.65 

Lettuce  

May  15  to  June  18 

12X  baskets  

.10 

1  25 

Turnip  greens  

May  15  to  20  

5  baskets.  .  .  . 

.10 

.50 

Spinach      

May  21  to  June  14 

27  baskets  .... 

.10 

2.70 

Beet  greens      

May  26  to  June  16  . 

8  baskets  

.10 

.80 

Peas  

June  3  to  July  21.  . 

10  pecks  

30 

3.00 

Early  beets  

June  10  to  Aug.  30 

28  doz  

.10 

2.80 

Early  turnips  

June  11  to  26  

8  doz  

.05 

.40 

Cauliflower  

June  12  to  July  22. 

33  heads  

.10 

3.30 

Early  potatoes  

June  14  to  July  23..  . 

8%  bu  

1.00 

8.38 

Cabbage: 
Early  varieties  . 

June  14  to  Aug  30 

97  heads  

.05 

4.85 

Autumn  King  .  .  . 

After  Sept  1     .... 

100  heads  

.04 

4.00 

String  beans: 
Early  

June  19  to  July  9  

6%  pecks  

.30 

2.03 

Late  

Aug.  26  to  Sept.  10. 

4%  pecks  

.30 

1  35 

Early  carrots 

June  27  to  Oct  8 

18  doz    

.05 

.90 

Parsley  

July  1  to  Nov.  12  ... 

Supply  

Sweet  corn  

July  8  to  Sept  10...  . 

64)^  doz  

.10 

6.45 

Tomatoes: 
Ripe  

July  12  to  Oct  13  . 

18%  bu   

.75 

13.75 

Green  

Oct  1  and  2        

"Ft  bu.. 

.50 

1.88 

Squash: 
Summer  

July  12  to  Sept  9 

129  

.02^ 

3.23 

Winter  

After  Sept  13     

689  lb       

•  Oli< 

10.33 

Lima  beans  

July  26  to  Sept.  29 

.30 

1.73 

Peppers:  

Aug.  7  to  Oct.  13  

Large.   ...    ,  

29  doz  

.08% 

2.42 

Small  

31-a  pecks.  . 

.20 

.70 

Egrjr  plant.  . 

Aug  18  to  Oct.  13... 

85  fruits  

.05 

4.25 

Cucumbers  

Aug.  22  to  Sept.  9... 

13  

.01 

.13 

Muskmelons  

Aug  26  to  Oct  6.. 

457  ib  

.01>2 

6.86 

Watermelons  

Sept.  1  to  Oct.  8  

535  lb  

.00% 

4.01 

Sweet  potatoes  
Winter  radishes  
Late  turnips  

After  Oct.  13  
After  Oct.  17  
After  Oct   17      

2^  bu  
2^bu  
1%  bu  

1.00 
.50 
.50 

2.50 
1.13 
.75 

Late  carrots  

After  Oct  17    

71^  bu  

.50 

3.75 

Late  beets  

After  Oct   17  

9  bu  

.50 

4.50 

Parsnips  

After  Oct  17  

3.8  bu      

.50 

1.90 

Salsify  

After  Oct   17  

1  bu  

.50 

.50 

Celery  

After  Nov.  10  

15^  doz  

.20 

3.10 

8124.31 

182  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [February, 

PROFITS 
The  cost  of  the  garden  for  1902  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Seeds $  4.18 

Insecticides 50 

Labor 26.28 


Total $30.96 

The  value  of  the  products  amounted  to  $124.31,  making  a  net 
profit  of  $93.35.  This  is  a  much  larger  profit  than  that  of  either  of 
the  preceding  years.  The  cost  of  the  garden  was  but  slightly  less 
than  before,  the  great  difference  in  the  net  profit  being  due  to  the 
enormous  yields.  These  were  the  result  of  a  combination  of  favor- 
able conditions,  viz. :  very  heavy  manuring,  an  abundance  of  rain- 
fall well  distributed  through  the  season,  thorough  tillage,  compara- 
tive freedom  from  serious  insect  attacks,  constant  care. 

ACCOUNT  OF  THE  GARDEN  FOR  1903 

The  plan  of  the  garden  in  1903  was  much  the  same  as  in  1902, 
except  that  the  sweet  potatoes  were  omitted  on  account  of  their 
rampant  growth  and  interference  with  the  proper  development  of 
other  crops.  They  covered  a  strip  of  land  nearly  twenty  feet  wide. 
An  additional  row  of  vine  crops  was  planted  in  place  of  the  sweet 
potatoes.  A  few  changes  were  made  in  the  arrangement  of  some  of 
the  other  vegetables,  to  avoid  interference  between  adjoining  crops. 

October  29  to  November  12,  1902,  twenty-three  loads  of  fairly 
well  rotted  manure  were  applied  broadcast  to  the  garden.  The  loads 
consisted  of  as  much  manure  as  could  readily  be  piled  on  an  ordinary 
set  of  dump  boards.  They  were  much  smaller  loads  than  those  ap- 
plied the  preceding  year,  so  that  the  total  amount  of  manure  applied 
was  considerably  less. 

The  land  was  plowed  deeply,  November  I2th,  and  allowed  to 
remain  without  further  working  until  April  ist,  when  it  was  disked 
and  harrowed,  and  the  east  third  planked  for  immediate  planting. 

PLANTING 

Rows  2  to  8,  inclusive,  were  planted  with  the  same  vegetables 
and  in  exactly  the  same  order  as  in  1902. 

April  2ist,  the  south  half  of  row  9  was  planted  to  Nott's  Ex- 
celsior peas.  Owing  to  unsettled  weather,  it  was  considered  unad- 
visable  to  set  the  early  cabbage  and  cauliflower  at  this  time.  The 
weather  continued  cold,  and  on  April  23d  and  May  ist  severe  frosts 
occurred.  On  the  latter  date,  all  asparagus  above  ground  was 
frozen,  but  the  vegetables  planted  April  ist  were  not  injured.  All 


1906  ]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  lS3 

except  the  potatoes  were  up.  These  were  just  breaking  the  ground. 
The  temperature  April  230!  was  27  degrees  R,  and  May  ist,  26 
degrees  R 

May  2d,  the  unplanted  portion  of  the  garden  was  disked,  har- 
rowed and  planked,  and  the  following  plantings  made : 

Row  9. — North  half:    40  cabbage  plants,  Jersey  Wakefield;   30  cauliflower  plants. 
Row  10. — V-2.  row  peas,  Nott's  Excelsior  (third  planting)  ;    ^  row  string  beans. 
Row  II. — 1/2  row  left  for  cabbage;    Yz  row  beans,  Henderson's  Bush  Lima. 
Row  12. — Yi  row  late  beets;    Yz  row  late  carrots.     (Marked  with  radishes.) 
Row  13. — Sweet  corn :    Yi  row  Mammoth  White  Cory ;    Yz  row  Chicago  Market. 

May  5th,  the  north  half  of  row  1 1  was  planted  to  Market  Gar- 
dener's No.  2  cabbage,  35  plants  being  set  and  the  rest  of  the  space 
sown  with  seed. 

May  1 6th,  the  following  vegetables  were  put  in: 

Rows  14,  15,  16,  and  17. — 4  rows  vine  crops  (6  feet  apart  and  6  feet  from  ad- 
joining rows):  24  hills  cucumbers,  24  hills  winter  squash,  12  hills  summer 
squash,  64  hills  muskmelons,  64  hills  watermelons. 

Row  18. — Sweet  corn :  Y*  row  StowelPs  Evergreen,  Yz  row  Country  Gentleman. 
Row  19. — 2/3  row  tomatoes,  44  plants  Stone,  4  feet  apart. 

At  the  time  this  planting  was  done,  the  top  soil  was  very  dry 
because  there  had  been  practically  no  rain  since  May  2d.  However, 
there  was  plenty  of  moisture  below  the  dust  mulch,  and  care  was 
taken  to  place  the  seeds  in  contact  with  moist  soil. 

May  29th,  the  balance  of  row  19  was  planted  with  9  egg  plants, 
12  peppers,  and  a  4O-foot  drill  of  cabbage  seed  to  grow  plants  for 
the  late  crop.  At  this  date  also,  a  few  string  beans  and  a  little  Chi- 
cago Market  corn  were  planted  in  the  spaces  where  the  first  planting 
had  failed  to  give  a  full  stand. 

July  6th,  after  the  early  crops  had  been  removed  from  rows  5, 
6,  and  7,  the  strip  of  land  thus  left  vacant  was  plowed  and  planked 
with  one-horse  implements,  and  planted  to  late  cabbage,  cauliflower, 
celery  and  string  beans. 

By  August  7th,  the  crops  had  been  harvested  from  rows  8,  9, 
and  the  north  half  of  row  10,  and  this  strip  was  cleared  of  refuse, 
plowed  and  fitted  for  planting.  August  Hth,  it  was  planted  with 
two  rows  of  turnips  and  one-half  row  of  winter  radishes. 

CULTIVATION 

The  method  of  cultivation  employed  in  the  garden  was  practi- 
cally the  same  as  in  1902,  except  that  during  the  absence  of  the  su- 
perintendent, the  hand  hoe  was  used  in  many  instances  where  the 
wheel  hoe  might  have  done  the  same  work  in  much  less  time.  Men 


184  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [February, 

who  are  not  accustomed  to  a  wheel  hoe  seem  to  cling  to  the  old  habit 
of  using  a  hand  hoe,  regardless  of  the  extra  labor  involved. 

The  garden  was  kept  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation  throughout 
the  season.  The  one-horse  cultivator  was  used  eleven  times;  and 
each  time,  the  cultivation  included  all  crops  which  were  up  and 
which  had  not  grown  so  large  as  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  im- 
plement between  the  rows.  Nearly  all  the  early  planted  vegetables 
were  cultivated  with  the  wheel  hoe  four  times  during  April  and 
May.  Up  to  June  ist,  practically  no  hand  hoeing  had  been  done. 
During  the  following  six  weeks  the  wheel  hoe  was  not  used  at  all, 
and  considerable  time  was  consumed  in  hand  hoeing. 

FIGHTING  INSECTS 

The  vine  crops  were  sprayed  with  Bordeaux  mixture  and  Paris 
green  as  soon  as  the  plants  were  up  and  before  they  were  attacked 
by  the  striped  beetle.  This  treatment  was  repeated  every  few  days 
until  the  plants  were  well  established.  Eight  applications  were 
made  from  May  23d  to  June  24th.  The  plants  were  in  this  way 
kept  practically  free  from  the  striped  beetle.  The  early  cabbages 
were  sprayed  with  the  same  material.  This  was  from  June  2d  to 
loth.  The  potatoes  were  sprayed  only  once,  May  28th. 

Later  in  the  season,  through  an  oversight  on  the  part  of  the 
workmen,  the  flea-beetles  and  potato  beetles  were  allowed  to  ruin  the 
egg  plants,  and  the  cabbage  worms  to  seriously  damage  the  late  cab- 
bage and  cauliflower. 

TRAINING  TOMATOES 

The  tomatoes  were  staked  and  tied  up  as  in  previous  years,  but 
were  not  so  severely  pruned.  None  were  pruned  to  single  stems, 
nor  systematically  maintained  to  three  stems.  Early  in  the  season 
they  were  pruned  to  one  stem,  then  allowed  to  branch  freely  higher 
up.  This  gave  an  abundance  of  fruiting  branches,  and  the  crop  was 
enormous,  averaging  slightly  over  one-half  bushel  of  ripe  fruit  per 
plant.  The  fruit  was  also  very  large  and  smooth,  averaging  nearly 
one-half  pound  per  specimen  for  the  whole  season. 

LABOR 

A  summary  of  the  labor  account  for  1903  is  given  in  Table  8. 
One  man  worked  alone  in  hauling  and  spreading  the  manure.  In 
the  spraying,  two  men  worked  with  the  one-horse  outfit.  Therefore 
the  item  is  charged  under  "work  with  one  horse"  and  also  under 
"hand  labor,  fighting  insects,"  as  in  the  two  preceding  years. 


1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


185 


TABLE  8.— SUMMARY  OF  LABOR  ON  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1903,  BY  HOURS 


11 

CO  i—  i 

*l 

1* 

o. 

rt 

<u 

c 

3 

H-S 

August. 

September. 

October. 

"  *  .—i 

November. 

«t 
it 

0 

H 

Work  with  team: 
Hauling   and    spreading 
manure           

22 

• 

•?,?, 

Plowing,  harrowing,  etc.  .. 

4 

1 

Total  team  work     

•y\y 

4 

1 

•W1^ 

72 

Work  with  one  horse: 
Fitting  land  for  planting  .  .  . 

2^ 

1 

1% 

SnraviniT.. 

3'vJ 

2i/ 

9 

4 

,<•<! 

2 

Total  work  with  one  horse.. 

*^/2 

8 

3X 

1>£ 

% 

18% 

Hand  labor: 
Planting  

4^ 

«*f 

984 

1 

?4 

Cultivating  with  wheel  hoe. 
Hand  hoeing  

93/ 

fi8^ 

Q  3/ 
®sA 

5 

5 
??84 

Weeding  and  thinning  
Fighting  insects  

3V 

1% 

1 

K 

«4 

Training  tomatoes  

4^ 

l/^ 

s 

5»j 

Clearing  land  after  crops  .  .  . 
Handling  and  banking  celery 

1 

2 

3% 

1 

2X 

5% 

Total  hand  labor  

5 

20X 

15X 

22% 

9% 

4 

1 

2K 

86% 

The  cost  of  the  labor  on  the  garden  was  as  follows : 

Team  work,  29^  hrs.  at  $3.00  per  day $8.85 

Work  with  one  horse,  l8j4  hrs.  at  $2.00  per  day 375 

Hand  labor,  86^4  hrs.  at  $1.25  per  day 18.84 

Total $23.44 

A  comparison  of  the  above  figures  with  those  of  previous  years 
shows  that  the  cost  for  labor  on  the  garden  was  smaller  in  1903 
than  in  any  previous  year.  However,  this  was  due  mainly  to  the 
fact  that  much  less  time  was  spent  in  applying  manure  than  for  the 
crop  of  1902.  As  stated  before,  the  application  was  much  lighter, 
and  the  manure  was  also  hauled  a  shorter  distance.  Leaving  out  of 
consideration  the  spreading  of  manure,  the  amount  of  hand  labor 
was  17^4  hours  greater  in  1903  than  in  1902.  More  time  was 
consumed  in  planting.  This  was  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  two 
rows  of  late  cabbage  and  cauliflower  were  transplanted  in  1903,  and 
none  in  1902,  and  that  the  transplanting  of  these  and  the  celery  was 
done  at  a  time  when  watering  seemed  necessary.  As  already  men- 
tioned, too  much  hand  hoeing  was  done,  so  that  the  time  spent  in 
hand  tillage  (with  hand  and  wheel  hoe)  was  27^4  hours,  against 


186 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February, 


hours  in  1902.  The  weeding  and  thinning  was  practically  the 
same  both  years.  A  little  more  time  was  spent  in  fighting  insects 
than  in  1902,  and  if  still  more  had  been  spent,  the  egg  plants  and 
late  cabbage  and  cauliflower  might  have  fared  better.  Less  time  was 
consumed  in  training  tomatoes  than  in  1902  because  there  were 
fewer  plants,  and  they  were  not  pruned  so  closely.  More  time  was 
spent  in  handling  and  banking  the  celery  than  in  1902,  but  about  the 
same  as  in  1900. 

THE  HARVEST 

The  earliest  products  of  the  garden  were  gathered  April  i/th, 
when  the  first  asparagus  was  cut  and  some  perennial  onions  were 
pulled.  The  cutting  of  the  asparagus  was  continued  until  the  peas 
were  ready  for  use.  In  the  meantime,  the  radishes,  lettuce,  spinach, 
and  turnip  greens  had  reached  edible  condition,  and  other  crops 
followed  in  rapid  succession,  so  that  the  supply  of  vegetables  was 
good  throughout  the  season.  The  only  crops  which  failed  to  produce 
fairly  satisfactory  results  were  the  egg  plants  and  cauliflower,  and 
the  failure  of  these  was  due  mainly  to  the  lack  of  proper  attention 
at  critical  times,  as  already  mentioned.  The  Mclver's  Sugar  water- 
melons failed  to  mature  properly,  but  several  fairly  good  specimens 
were  secured  in  October,  after  the  vines  would  have  been  killed  by 
frost  in  an  ordinary  season.  On  the  whole  the  garden  was  very  sat- 
isfactory, even  the  cucumbers  and  turnips  giving  fair  crops. 

Table  9  gives  in  condensed  form  the  most  important  data  re- 
garding each  planting  of  each  crop,  and  Table  10  gives  the  final 
summary  regarding  the  products. 

TABLE  9. — PRODUCTS  OF  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1903 


Space 
occupied, 
rows. 

Date  of 
planting. 

Days 
to 
edible 
condi- 
tion. 

Period  of  use. 

Yield. 

Onions: 
Green  — 
Perennial  

l/6 

April  17  to  June  2 

102  doz. 

From  sets  

1A 

April  1.    .. 

65 

June  5  to  30  ... 

15  doz. 

From  seed 

April  1 

Aug  6  to  10  

2X  doz. 

Ripe  

1 

April  1  

146 

After  A  ug.  25  ... 

2  bu. 

Asparagus  

% 

April  17  to  June  5 

67X  Ib. 

Radishes: 
Earliest  White- 
First  planting  .    .  . 
Second  plantin"'  . 

2 

y. 

April  1.... 
May  2  

38 

May  9  to  23    
June  17  to  23  

110  doz. 
13  doz. 

Cincinnati   Market- 
First  planting..   . 

l 

April  1  

49 

May  20  to  June  1 

50%  doz. 

Second  planting  .  .  . 
Lettuce  

\ 

May  2  
April  1  

45 

48 

June  16  to  23  
May  19  to  June  15 

21  doz. 
8}£  bskts. 

Spinach  

% 

April  1  

52 

May  23  to  June  15 

1%  bskts. 

1906.}                        FARMERS  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.                                 187 
TABLE  9.—  Continued. 

Space 
occupied, 
rows. 

Date  of 
planting. 

Days 

to 
edible 
condi- 
tion. 

Period  of  use. 

Yield. 

Turnip  greens  

54 

H 

% 
X 
V* 

% 
% 
H 
X 

2 

H 

7z 

% 
% 

% 

Y* 
X 
% 

% 

12  hills 
24  hills 

% 

% 

24  hills 

32  hills 
32  hills 

32  hills 
32  hills 
9  plants 

40ft. 
1 

12  plants 
% 
% 
2 

k 

\ 
\ 

April  1     . 

57 
66 
69 

66 
57 
51 

84 
84 
85 

60 
56 

101 

72 

83 
88 
96 

80 
95 

72 
137 

77 

94 

82 

97 
143 

101 
101 
105 

124 
114 

13  1 
179 
75 
75 
210 
210 
179 
139 

May  28  to  June  5 
June  5  to  27    .... 
June  6  to  13  

June  9   to  July  1 

June  6  to  July  1.. 
June  17  to  July  18 
June.22  to  July  18 
June  24  to  July  6 
June  24  to  Aug.  13 
June  25  to  July  28 

July  1  to  Sept.  1.. 
Sept.  1  to  Oct.  6 

July  2  to  Sept.  1. 

July  11  to  Sept.  25 
After  Oct.  28  ... 

July  13  to  31  
July  24  to  31  .   .. 
Aug.  12  to  28  
Aug.  20  to  Sept.  10 

July  21  to  Aug.  6 
Oct.  9  to  28  

4  bskts. 
33%  lb. 
3%  bskts. 

2M  pks. 

3%  pks. 
3  pks. 
3%  pks. 
5  doz. 
11%  doz. 
6%  bu. 

10  pks. 
3>£  pks. 

96  heads 

8  doz. 
1  bu. 

11  doz. 
6%  doz. 
10  doz. 
16  doz. 

7  heads 
16  heads 

131 
355  lb. 

22.23bu. 
4Ji  bu. 
7  pks. 
185 

585%  lb. 
269%  lb. 

403%  lb. 
666%  lb. 
1  fruit 

13  heads 

27 

65 
2  pks. 
5bu. 
3%bu. 
2bu. 
4  bu. 
.9bu. 
\}4  bu. 
18  doz. 

April  1  

Beet  greens  

Peas: 
Maud  S  

April  1 

Nott's  Excelsior  — 
First  planting    .... 

April  1  
April2l.... 
May  2  

Second  planting  — 
Third  planting.  .  .  . 

Early  turnips  

April  1  

Early  beets   

April  L... 
April  1  

Early  potatoes  

String  beans: 
Early  crop.           

May2  

Late  crop  

July  7  

May  2,  5  ... 
April  1.   ... 

May  2  

Cabbage: 
Early  varieties    
Early  carrots:  

Pulled  during  season 
Reserved  for  winter.. 
Sweet  corn: 
Cory  

Chicago  Market  

May  2  

Evergreen     

May  16.... 
May  16  

Country  Gentleman.. 
Cauliflower: 
Early    

May  2  

Late  

July  6  

Squash: 
Summer  Crookneck.  . 
Faxon  (winter)  

May  16  

July  27  to  Sept.  16 
After  Sept.  30  ... 

Aug.  1  to  Oct.  9.. 
Oct.  9  

May  16  

Tomatoes:  

May  16.  ... 
May  2  

Ripe  fruit  

Green  fruit  

Lima  beans  

Aug.  4  to  Oct.  6.. 
Aug.  6  to  Sept.  18 

Aug.  21  to  Oct.  6 
Oct.  6  to  16  

Cucumbers  

May  16  

Watermelons: 
Cole's  Early  

May  16.... 
May  16  

Mclver's  Sugar  

Muskmelons: 
Burpee's  Netted  Gem 
Beck's  Strawberry.  .  . 
Ecrcr  nlant 

May  16  

Aug.  25  to  Oct.  6 
Aug.  25  to  Oct.  6 
Sept.  11  

May  16  

May  29  

Late  cabbage,  Autumn 
King: 
From  seed  bed    

May  29  

Sept.  30  to  Oct.  19 
After  Oct.  28  .  .  .  . 

October  9  

Transplanted  — 

July  6  

Good  heads  

May  29  
May  2  
Aug.  14  
Aug.  14... 
Apr.  1  
Apr.  1  
May  2  

Small  head^  . 

Peppers  

Late  beets  

After  Oct.  28... 
After  Oct.  28.... 
After  Oct.  28.... 
After  Oct.  28... 
After  Oct.  28.... 
After  Oct.  28... 
After  Nov.  22.... 

\Vinter  radishes  

Late  turnips  

Parsnips         

Salsify  

Late  carrots  

Celery  

July  6.    ... 

188 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


TABLE  10.— SUMMARY  OP  PRODUCTS  OF  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  AND  THEIR 

VALUE,  1903 


Period  of  use. 

Total  product. 

Retail 
Price. 

Value 
of  crop. 

Onions: 

April  17  to  Aug  10 

11  9%  doz 

$    05 

$5  98 

Ripe  

After  Aug.  25. 

2  bu  

.75 

1  50 

April  17  to  June  5 

67%  lb  

.05 

3  37 

Radishes: 
Earliest  White  

May  9  to  June  23  ... 

123  doz       

.02% 

3  08 

Cincinnati  Market 

May  20  to  June  23 

71%  doz  

.05 

3  57 

Lettuce  

May  19  to  June  15. 

8%  baskets.    .  .  . 

.10 

85 

Spinach  

May  23  to  June  15 

7%  baskets.    .  .  . 

.10 

75 

Turnip  greens  

May  28  to  June  5. 

4  baskets  

.10 

40 

Rhubarb  

June  5  to  27  

33%  lb  

.04 

1.33 

Beet  greens.  .  .   • 

June  6  to  13. 

3%  baskets.  .  .  . 

.10 

35 

Peas            

June  6  to  July  18.   .. 

125^  necks.  . 

.30 

3.78 

Early  turnips  

June  24  to  July  6  ... 

5  doz  

.05 

25 

Early  beets  

June  24  to  Aug.  13  . 

11%  doz  

.10 

1.15 

Early  potatoes.   .  .  . 

June  25  to  July  28-.  .. 

6%  bu  

1.00 

6.50 

String  beans: 
Early  crop  

July  1  to  Sept.  1  ... 

10  pecks  

.30 

3.00 

Late  crop       

Sept.  1  to  Oct  6  

3%  pecks  

.30 

1.05 

Cabbage: 
Early  varieties 

July  2  to  Sept  1 

96  heads     

.05 

4  80 

Autumn  King.  .  .  . 

After  Sept.  30  

Good  heads  .... 

40...  

.03 

1.20 

65  

.01 

65 

Early  carrots: 
Pulled    during 
season 

July  11  to  Sept.  25 

8  doz  

.05 

40 

Reserved  for  winter 
Sweet  corn 

After  Oct.  28  
July  13  to  Sept   10 

1  bu  
43%  doz    

.50 
.10 

.50 
4.35 

Cauliflower: 
Early   

July  21  to  Aug.  6  ... 

7  heads  -• 

.10 

70 

Late 

Oct  9  to  28  

16  heads  

.03 

48 

Squash: 
Summer  

July  27  to  Sept.  16.. 

131  

.02% 

3.27 

Winter  

After  Sept.  30  

355  lb...  

.01% 

5.33 

Tomatoes: 
Ripe  

Aug.  1  to  Oct.  9  

22.23  bu  

.60 

13.33 

Green  

Lima  beans 

Oct.  9  
Aug  4  to  Oct   6  

4%bu  
7  pecks  

.40 
.30 

1.80 
2.10 

Cucumbers  

Aug.  6  to  Sept.  18.. 

185  

.01 

1.85 

Watermelons 

Aug.  21  to  Oct.  16... 

854%  lb  

.00% 

6.41 

Muskmelons 

Aug  25  to  Oct.  6 

1070  lb  

.01% 

16.05 

EP'D'  nlanf 

Sept   1 

I  fruit          ..... 

05 

05 

Peppers  
Late  beets  

Oct.  9  
After  Oct.  28  

2  pecks  
5  bu  

.25 
.50 

.50 
2.50 

Winter  radishes  
Late  turnips  

After  Oct.  28  
After  Oct.  28  

3%  bu  
2  bu  

.50 
.50 

1.75 
1.00 

Parsnips  

After  Oct.  28  

4  bu  

.50 

2.00 

Salsify  

After  Oct.  28  

.9  bu    

.50 

.45 

Late  carrots  . 

After  Oct.  28  . 

1%  bu  

.50 

.75 

Celery  

After  Nov.  22  

18  doz  

.20 

3.60 

$112.73 

woe.]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  18!) 

PROFITS 

The  cost  of  the  garden  for  1903  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Seeds $3.66 

Insecticides i.oo 

Labor 23.44 


Total $28.10 

The  value  of  the  products  amounted  to  $112.73,  thus  leaving  a 
net  profit  of  $84.63. 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  GARDEN  FOR  1904 

In  1904  the  plan  for  the  garden  was  again  reversed  so  that  plant- 
ing began  at  the  west  side  of  the  area,  in  order  that  a  rotation  of 
crops  might  be  secured.  Very  few  changes  were  made  in  the  list 
of  varieties,  the  one  of  most  importance  being  the  substitution  of  the 
Halbert  Honey  watermelon  for  the  Mclver's  Sugar.  The  reason  for 
the  change  was  the  failure  of  the  Mclver's  Sugar  to  properly  ripen 
its  crop  in  1902  and  1903. 

From  November  9  to  12,  1903,  sixteen  loads  of  manure,  aver- 
aging slightly  over  one  ton  each,  were  hauled  and  applied  to  the 
garden.  The  ground  was  plowed  November  27th. 

PLANTING 

The  spring  of  1904  was  so  late  that  no  work  could  be  done  in 
the  garden  until  April  i6th,  when  the  west  third  of  the  area  was 
disked  and  harrowed,  and  the  early  vegetables  planted.  Rows  i  to 
7,  inclusive,  were  planted  exactly  the  same  as  rows  2  to  8  in  1902 
and  1903.  April  23d,  row  8  was  planted  to  cabbage,  cauliflower, 
and  peas,  the  same  as  row  9  in  1902. 

April  3Oth,  planting  was  continued,  as  follows : 
Row  9. — Y$  row  cabbage,  35  plants  Market  Gardener's  No.  2;   J4  r°w  same  (seed 

sown)  ;    l/2  row  beans,  Improved  Henderson  Bush  Lima. 
Row  10. — 1/2  row  late  beets,  l/2  row  late  carrots.     (Marked  with  radish.) 
Row  li. — Sweet  corn:    l/2  row  Mamomth  White  Cory,  l/2  row  Chicago  Market. 
Row  12. — Y2  row  peas,  Nott's  Excelsior;   l/2  row  string  beans. 

May  7th,  the  following  vegetables  were  planted : 

Row  13. — Sweet  corn :    l/2  row  Stowell's  Evergreen,  l/2  row  Country  Gentleman. 
Row  14. — y$  r°w  left  vacant  for  egg  plants  and  peppers;    ^  row  tomatoes,  24 

plants  Freedom  and  46  plants  Stone. 
Rows  15,  16,  17,  and  18. — Vine  crops  •    24  hills  cucumbers,  24  hills  winter  squash, 

12  hills  summer  squash,  64  hills  muskmelons,  76  hills  watermelons. 

The  row  containing  tomatoes  was  4  feet  from  the  sweet  corn  to 
admit  of  late  tillage.  Row  15  was  7  feet  from  row  14  and  the  four 


190  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [February. 

rows  of  vine  crops  were  six  feet  apart.  The  hills  were  somewhat 
less  than  six  feet  apart  in  the  row.  The  space  between  row  18  and 
the  permanent  row  of  asparagus,  etc.,  was  slightly  over  six  feet. 
May  28th,  12  egg  plants  and  12  peppers  were  planted  in  the  space 
left  for  them  in  row  14. 

The  plan  of  the  garden  for  1904  is  shown  in  the  accompanying 
diagram.  The  distinctive  feature  in  which  the  arrangement  of  the 
vegetables  differed  from  that  of  previous  years  was  the  planting  of 
a  half-row  of  peas  between  two  rows  of  corn,  so  that  after  the  re- 
moval of  the  peas  celery  might  be  planted  where  it  would  be  shaded 
by  the  corn ;  and  after  the  removal  of  the  corn  plenty  of  soil  would 
be  available  for  banking  the  celery.  It  was  the  intention  also  to  re- 
move the  string  beans  from  the  other  half  of  row  12  in  time  to 
plant  the  late  cauliflower  where  it  would  be  shaded  during  the  hot 
weather;  but  since  the  beans  continued  to  produce  pods,  another 
place  was  found  for  the  cauliflower. 

The  celery  was  planted  July  6th,  as  was  also  a  row  of  late  cab- 
bage and  one-half  row  each  of  cauliflower  and  string  beans,  on  land 
previously  occupied  by  rows  4  and  5. 

August  loth,  2 */2  rows  of  turnips  and  ^2  row  of  .winter  radishes 
were  planted  in  the  space  previously  occupied  by  the  early  potatoes, 
cabbage,  etc.  (rows  6,  7,  and  8). 

CULTIVATION 

Free  use  was  made  of  the  wheel  hoe  and  the  narrow-tooth  cul- 
tivator throughout  the  season,  the  former  being  used  fifteen  times 
and  the  latter  ten  times,  including  the  work  on  late  crops.  Consid- 
erable hand  hoeing  was  done  after  the  plants  had  become  too  large 
to  permit  the  use  of  the  wheel  hoe,  in  an  attempt  to  produce  large 
yields  from  some  of  the  more  exacting  crops. 

FIGHTING  INSECTS 

Striped  beetles  were  very  abundant  in  1904  and  their  repeated 
attacks  upon  the  vine  crops  necessitated  the  free  use  of  insecticides 
for  over  a  month.  Altogether  the  plants  were  sprayed  with  Bor- 
deaux mixture  and  Paris  green  seven  times  and  dusted  with  air- 
slaked  lime  and  Paris  green  four  times.  The  flea-beetles  attacking 
the  egg  plants  were  controlled  by  five  applications  of  Bordeaux  mix- 
ture and  Paris  green  and  two  of  air-slaked  lime  and  Paris  green. 
Cabbage  worms  were  abundant  late  in  the  season,  and  in  spite  of  five 
applications  of  air-slaked  lime,  did  considerable  damage  to  the  crop. 


1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


191 


O 

> 

w 

c 

H 


*  M 


or 


ll 


n 


O 


<: 


192 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February, 


LABOR 

In  Table  1 1  is  given  a  summary  of  the  labor  on  the  garden  for 
1904.  The  item  "banking  celery"  under  "team  work"  refers  to  the 
plowing  to  secure  loose  dirt  for  banking.  In  previous'  years  this 
work  was  all  done  with  one  horse,  and  entered  under  "cultivating," 
but  this  season  it  was  more  convenient  to  use  the  team  in  the  final 
banking.  It  was  also  found  convenient  to  use  the  team  in  hauling 
away  the  tomato  stakes  and  other  materials  when  clearing  this  land 
after  all  crops  had  been  harvested,  instead  of  doing  it  with  a  wheel 
barrow  as  in  previous  years. 

TABLE  11.— SUMMARY  OF  LABOR  ON  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1904,  BY  HOUKS 


m  • 

>  fC 

£S 

l^H  r-l 

P< 
<4 

£ 

s 

o> 
a 
5 

1-5 

>> 

3 

>-s 

be 
p 

<j 

G, 
OJ 
CO 

*3 

o 
0 

o 
fc 

03 
0 

H 

Work  with  team: 
Hauling   and    spreading 
manure  

''ft 

25 

Plowing,  harrowing,  etc  

S 

V-< 

fiV 

Banking  celery  

Vi 

K 

Clearing  land  after  crops.  .. 

y2 

H 

Total  team  work  

•>8 

3l< 

% 

V, 

32U 

Work  with  one  horse: 
Fitting  land  for  planting..   . 
Cultivating  

% 

2% 

X 

91/T 

1 

H 

1 

i 

I« 

8 

SDravinsr.  . 

v 

?V 

\ 

1/n 

4M 

Total  work  with  one  horse 

VA 

5 

3% 

2 

1 

1 

13% 

Hand  labor: 

171^ 

17V 

Planting  

m. 

v/i 

\& 

w/l 

3/ 

18V 

Cultivating  with  wheel  hoe 
Hand  hoeing  

x 

2H 
?^ 

4$ 

VA 

4^ 

% 
*\ 

1 
IK 

8 
153^ 

Weeding  and  thinning  
Fighting  insects      

1% 

m 

P 

3/ 

A 
I1/ 

1 

X 

I1"! 

4% 

8 

Training  tomatoes  

SM 

1M 

M 

5 

Clearing  land  after  crops.  .  . 
Handling  and  banking  celery 

*/ 

74 

% 

1 

1% 

4M 

Ji 

3 
6X 

Total  hand  labor  

n% 

7% 

u% 

13% 

uy2 

6% 

6% 

4K 

« 

8HH 

The  cost  of  labor  on  the  garden  was  as  follows : 

Team  work,  32%  hrs.  at  $3.00  per  day $  9.68 

Work  with  one  horse,  1324  hrs.  at  $2.00  per  day 2.75 

Hand  labor,  86J^  hrs.  at  $1.25  per  day 10.81 


Total  $23.24 


190G.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN, 


193 


THE  HARVEST 

On  account  of  the  lateness  of  the  spring,  the  perennial  onions 
and  the  asparagus  were  much  later  in  starting  than  in  1903,  so  that 
the  first  products  of  the  garden  were  not  gathered  until  April  3Oth, 
thirteen  days  later  than  in  1903.  However,  the  season  was  about 
as  long  as  usual,  since  no  killing  frost  occurred  until  October  23d. 

The  season  was  favorable  for  nearly  all  crops,  and  a  special  ef- 
fort was  made  to  give  particular  care  to  the  crops  which  had  some- 
times failed  in  previous  years.  As  a  result,  not  a  single  crop  was 
an  entire  failure,  and  with  the  possible  exception  of  late  cabbage, 
cauliflower  and  turnips,  all  the  vegetables  produced  satisfactory 
yields. 

The  most  important  facts  in  reference  to  each  planting  of  each 
vegetable  are  given  in  Table  12,  and  a  summary  of  the  products, 
including  the  value  of  each  crop,  is  given  in  Table  13. 


TABLE  12.— PRODUCTS  OF  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1904 


Space 
occupied, 
rows. 

Date  of 
planting. 

Days 
to 
edible 
condi- 
tion. 

Period  of  use. 

Yield. 

Onions: 
Green  — 
Perennial     

i/ 

April  30  to  June  10 

22     do? 

From  sets  

i/. 

April  16 

56 

June  1  1  to  30 

7      doz 

From  seed  

April  16 

76 

July  1  to  30    .... 

7      doz 

Ripe     

1 

Anril  Ifi 

126 

After  Aug  20 

2     bu 

A  sparagus  

v- 

April  30  to  June  11 

104^2  Ib 

Radishes: 
Earliest  White- 
First  planting.  .  .    . 
Second  planting.    . 

2 
X 

April  16.... 
April  30 

33 
31 

May  19  to  25  
May  31  

43     doz. 
4     doz 

Cincinnati   Market- 
First  planting..    .    . 
Second  planting.    . 
Third  planting  .  . 
Lettuce'  

1 

X 

X 

i2 

April  16.... 
April  30.  ... 
May  28  
April  16 

40 
35 
25 

May  26  to  June  2. 
June  4  to  10  
June  22  to  30  

28     doz. 
15     doz. 
13      doz. 

Thinnings      

40 

May  26  to  June  18 

10X  bskts 

Heads    

68 

ifune  23  to  July  5 

36      heads 

Turnip  greens  

1A 

April  16 

40 

May  26  to  June  2 

5      bskts 

Rhubarb  

y6 

May  27  to  June  14 

34X  Ib. 

Spinach  

•% 

April  16  . 

45 

May  31  to  June  28 

21      bskts. 

Peas: 
Leader.  .  ,  

y. 

April  16  . 

56 

June  11  to  July  4 

3^0  pecks 

Nott's  Excelsior  — 
First  planting  
Second  planting.  .  . 
Third  planting  
Beet  greens  

% 
% 
% 
% 

April  16.... 
April  23.... 
April  30.  ... 
April  30  . 

61 
55 
56 
45 

June  16  to  July  4. 
June  17  to  23  
June  25  to  July  5. 
June  14  to  23.  .  .  . 

2%  pecks 
2%  pecks 
2%  pecks 
8      bskts. 

Early  turnips  

1 

April  16.... 

66 

June  21  to  July  5. 

10      doz. 

194 


BULLETIN  No.  105, 


[Februai'y, 


TABLE  12.— Continued. 


Space 
occupied, 
rows. 

Date  of 
planting. 

Days 
to 
edible 
condi- 
tion. 

Period  of  use. 

Yield. 

Cabbage: 
Jersey  Wakefield  — 
Market  Gardener^ 
No.  2— 
Transplanted  

& 

% 
% 

% 

? 
v<, 

% 

st 

X 

12  bins 
24  hills 

X 

1 
£ 

% 
% 

24  hills 

X 

32  hills 
32  hills 

44  hills 
32  hills 

| 

% 
% 
% 

2* 
1 

April  23.  ... 

April  30.... 
April  30.  ... 
July  6 

65 

96 
123 

122 

63 
58 
79 
79 

72 
122 
82 
86 
65 
163 

75 
90 
95 
105 

70 
76 

76 
95 

102 
105 

105 
111 
95 
105 
186 
186 
172 
172 
77 
77 
144 

June  27  to  Aug.  5 

Aug.  4  to  Sept.  15 
Aug.31toSept.28 

After  Nov.  5  
After  Nov.  12  ... 

July  2  to  Aug.  31. 
Sept.  2  to  Oct.  19 
July  4  to  22  

34      heads 

35      heads 
39      heads 

24 
24 

12%  peck.s 
4      pecks 
4%  bu. 
Supply 

25      heads 
16      heads 
24     doz. 
15%  doz. 
93 
330  Ib. 

14%  doz. 
14     doz. 
9%  doz, 
9     doz. 

6.85bu. 
3%bu. 

17.95  bu. 
4%bu. 

387 
76 
13%  pecks 

435%  Ib. 
749%  Ib. 

880%  Ib. 
1183   Ib. 
41       fruits 
3%  pecks 
3.4   bu. 
1.2  bu. 
8.9  bu. 
7      bu. 
2.6  bu. 
3.1  bu. 
20     doz. 

From  seed  

Autumn  King  

Good  heads  

April  30.  ... 
July  6  
April  16.... 
April  16.  ... 

April  23.  ... 

JUly  6  

Small  heads  ....... 

String  beans: 
Early  planting    

Late  planting  

Early  potatoes  

Parsley    

July  4  to  Nov.  12. 

July  4  to  Aug.  10. 
Nov.  5  to  12 
July  7  to  Oct.  19.. 
July  11  to  Oct.  19. 
Julv  11  to  Oct.  6.. 
After  Oct.  17  .... 

July  14  to  Aug.  2. 
July  29  to  Aug.  9. 
Aug.  10  to  26  
Aug.  20  to  Sept.  5 

July  16  to  Oct.  17 
Oct  17  

Cauliflower: 
Early  

Late     

Early  carrots  

April  16.  ... 
April  16.... 
May  7  

Early  beets  

Summer  squash  

Winter  squash  

May  7  

Sweet  corn: 
Mammoth     White 
Cory  

April  30.... 
April  30.  ... 
May  7  

Chicago  Market  
Stowell's  Evergreen. 
Country  Gentleman.  . 
Tomatoes: 
Freedom      

May  7  

May  7 

Ripe  fruit  

May  7 

Stone          

July  22  to  Oct.  17 
Oct   17  

Ripe  fruit  

May  7  

Green  fruit  

Cucumbers:  

July  22  to  Sept.  5 
Sept  5  to  15  

Slicing  

April  30  
May  7  

Pickles  

Lima  beans  

Aug.  3  to  Oct.  12. 

Aug.  17  to  Sept.  28 
Aug.20toSept.  27 

Aug.  20  to  Oct.  3. 
Sept.  2  to  29  
Aug.  31  to  Oct.  19 
Sept.  10  to  Oct.  12 
After  Oct.  19  
After  Oct.  19  .... 
After  Oct.  19  .... 
After  Oct.  19... 
After  Oct.  26  .... 
After  Oct.  26  .... 
After  Nov.  28.... 

Muskmelons: 
Netted  Gem  

Beck's  Strawberry.  .. 
Watermelons: 
Cole's  Early  

May  7  

May  7 

Halbert  Honey  

Ecrcr  nlant 

May  7  ...   . 
May  28.. 
May  28..     . 
April  16.     . 
April  16.     . 
April  30.     . 
April  30. 
Aug.  10.     . 
Aug.  10.      . 
July  6  ..     . 

Peppers         

Parsnips        

Salsify  

Late  beets     

Late  carrots  

Late  turnips  

Winter  radishes  

Celery  

1906.] 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


TABLE  13. — SUMMARY  OP  PRODUCTS  OF  FARMER'S  GARDEN  AND  THEIR 

VALUE,  1904 


Period  of  use. 

Total  product. 

Retail 
price. 

Value 
of  crop. 

Onions: 
Green.        -. 

April  30  to  July  30  . 

36  doz  

$  .05 

$  1.80 

Ripe  

After  Aug.  20  

2  bu  

.75 

1  50 

Asparagus.  

April  30  to  June  11  .  . 

104%  Ib.  .  , 

.05 

5.23 

Radishes: 
Earliest  White  .  .  . 

May  19  to  31  

47  doz  

.02}$ 

1.17 

Cincinnati  Market 

May  26  to  June  30. 

56  doz  

.05 

2.80 

Lettuce  

May  26  to  July  5.. 

22%  bskts  

.10 

2.25 

Turnip  greens  

May  26  to  June  2.  . 

5  bskts  

10 

.50 

Rhubarb  

May  27  to  June  14. 

34J£  Ib  

.04 

1  38 

Spinach  

May  31  to  June  28. 

21  bskts  

.10 

2.10 

Peas  

June  1  1  to  July  5  .  . 

11%  pks..  . 

.30 

3.45 

Beet  greens  

June  14  to  23  

8  bskts  

.10 

.80 

Early  turnips  

June  21  to  July  5 

10  doz  

.05 

.50 

Cabbage: 
Early  varieties  .  .  . 

June  27  to  Sept.  28.  . 

108  heads  

.05 

5.40 

Autumn  King  

After  Nov.  5  

Good  heads  

24  

.03 

.72 

Small  heads  .... 

24  

.01 

.24 

String  beans  

July  2  to  Oct.  19  

16%  pks..  . 

.30 

4.88 

Early  potatoes    .... 

July  4  to  22  

4&  bu  . 

1  00 

4  63 

Parsley  

July  4  to  Nov.  12  ... 

Cauliflower: 
Early  

July  4  to  Aug  10 

25  heads        .... 

.10 

2  50 

Late  

Nov.  5  to  12  

16  heads  

.05 

.80 

Early  carrots  

July  7  to  Oct.  19  

24  doz  

.05 

1.20 

Early  beets  

July  11  to  Oct.  19  ... 

15%  doz  

.10 

1.55 

Squash  : 
Summer  

July  11  to  Oct.  6  

93  

.02% 

2.33 

Winter  

After  Oct.  17  

330  ib  

.01% 

4.95 

Sweet  corn    

July  14  to  Sept.  5..  .  . 

47%  doz  

.10 

4.73 

Tomatoes: 
Ripe  

July  16  to  Oct.  17.. 

24.8  bu  

60 

14.88 

Green  

Cucumbers: 
Slicing  

Oct.  17  
July  22  to  Sept.  5  

7.5  bu  
387  

.40 
.01 

3.00 
3.87 

Pickles  

Sept.  5  to  15  

76  

.00% 

.19 

Lima  beans  

Aug.  3  to  Oct.  12.  .  . 

13%  pks  

.30 

4.13 

Muskmelons  

Auo-.  17  to  Sept.  28. 

H85%lb  

.01% 

17.78 

Watermelons  

Aug.  20  to  Oct.  3  .  . 

2063  M  Ib  

.00% 

15.47 

Esrg'  olant.  . 

Aug.  31  to  Oct.  19.. 

41  fruits  

.05^ 

2.05 

Peppers  

Sept.  10  to  Oct.  12 

3%  pks  

.25 

.94 

Parsnips  

After  Oct.  19  

3  4  bu  

.50 

1.70 

Salsify  

After  Oct.  19  

1.2bu  

.50 

.60 

Late  beets  

After  Oct.  19  

8.9  bu  

.50 

4.45 

Late  carrots  

After  Oct.  19  

7  bu  

.50 

3.50 

Late  turnips  

After  Oct.  26  

2.6  bu  

.50 

1.30 

Winter  radishes  
Celery  

After  Oct.  26  
After  Nov.  28  

3.1  bu  
20  doz  

.50 
.20 

1.55 
4.00 

$136.81 

The  accompanyingdiagram  graphically  represents  the  succession 
of  vegetables  through  the  season. 


19G 


BULLETIN  fro.  105. 


[February 


DIAGRAM  SHOWING  SUCCESSION  OF  VEGETABLES- IN  1904. 


1906.  J 


FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN. 


197 


PROFITS 

The  expenses  of  maintaining  the  garden  in  1904  were  as  follows : 

Seeds $  3.49 

Insecticides i.oo 

Labor 23.24 


Total $27.73 

The  total  value  of  the  products  of  the  garden  was  $136.81.  The 
profits  from  the  half-acre  were,  therefore,  $i  11.08.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  while  the  garden  was  maintained  at  less  expense  than  in 
any  other  year,  the  value  of  the  products  was  greater  than  ever  be- 
fore. This  may  have  been  due  partially  to  the  cumulative  effect  of 
heavy  manuring  and  the  favorableness  of  the  season,  but  was  prob- 
ably due  fully  as  much  to  well  directed  efforts,  thorough  tillage,  and 
special  attention  at  critical  times. 

SUMMARY  OF  LABOR  AND  PROFITS  FOR  THE  FIVE 

YEARS 

In  order  to  show  in  condensed  form  the  various  items  of  labor 
for  the  five  years,  and  to  indicate  the  variation  in  the  same  item 
from  year  to  year,  Table  14  is  introduced. 

TABLE  14.— SUMMARY  OP  LABOR  ON  FARMER'S  GARDEN,  1900-1904,  BY  HOURS 


1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

Work  with  team: 
Hauling  and  spreading  manure  

20 
7% 

9 
11% 

27 
6% 

22 
7% 

25 

6% 

V 

Clearing  land  after  crops    

i/ 

Total  team  work  

27% 

20% 

33% 

29% 

32% 

Work  with  one  horse: 
Fitting  land  for  planting  

1% 

8 

3 

1% 

1% 

Cultivating  

10 

14% 

15% 

11% 

82 

8 

2% 

5% 

4% 

Watering  celery  ».  

5% 

Total  work  with  one  horse  

11% 

36 

20% 

18% 

13% 

Hand  labor: 

8 

27 

17K 

Planting  

31% 

37% 

18% 

24 

18% 

Hoeing  and  other  hand  tillage  

43% 

AK. 

45 

10% 

5 

8 

6% 

22% 

15% 

Weeding  and  thinning  

23% 

6% 

6% 

6% 

4% 

Fighting  insects  

6% 

12% 

4% 

6% 

8 

Training  tomatoes  

6% 

9% 

9% 

5% 

5 

Clearing  land  after  crops  

5 

1% 

5% 

3 

10 

5% 

5 

10% 

6% 

Total  hand  labor  

124% 

129 

96 

86% 

8G>< 

BULLETIN  No.  i05 


[February, 


A  summary  of  the  expenses  for  the  five  years  is  given  in  Table 
15.  The  expense  for  seeds  and  plants  was  considerably  greater  the 
first  year  than  in  any  succeeding  year,  because  asparagus  roots,  etc., 
were  purchased  that  year.  All  items  except  the  expense  for  insecti- 
cides are  based  upon  accurate  accounts.  No  insecticides  were  bought 
especially  for  use  in  the  "farmer's  garden,"  but  a  rough  account 
was  kept  of  the  quantities  used  and  their  values  estimated. 


TABLE  15. — SUMMARY  OF  EXPENSES  FOR  THE  FIVE  YEARS 


1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

Average 

Seeds  and  plants.  .  .  . 

8  5.45 
.50 

8  4.08 
1.50 

$4.18 
50 

$  3.66 
1.00 

$  3.49 
1.00 

8  4.18 
.90 

Labor  

26.11 

29.48 

26.28 

23.44 

23.24 

25  71 

Total  expenses.. 

$32.06 

$35.06 

830.96 

828.10 

827.73 

$30.78 

Table  16  shows  the  value  of  the  products  and  the  net  profits  for 
each  year,  together  with  the  average  value  and  profits  for  the  five 
years.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  average  value  of  the  products  from 
the  half -acre  was  $105.23  per  year,  and  that  the  average  net  profits 
were  $74.85  per  year. 

TABLE  16.— SUMMARY  OF  PROFITS  FROM  THE  HALF- ACRE  FOR  FIVE  YEARS 


1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

Average 

Value  of  products  .  . 
Total  expense  

$  83.84 
32.06 

8  68.47 
35.06 

8124.31 
30.96 

8112.73 
28.10 

$136.81 
27.73 

$105.23 
30.78 

Net  profits  

$51.78 

$  33.41 

$  93.35 

8  84.63 

8111.08 

8  74.85 

PURCHASE  OF  SEEDS 

Each  year  a  new  lot  of  seeds  was  purchased  especially  for  the 
"farmer's  garden."  No  seeds  were  saved  over  from  one  year  to 
the  next,  nor  were  any  home  grown  seeds  used  except  potatoes  two 
years  and  sweet  potatoes  one  year.  During  the  last  two  years  an 
attempt  was  made  to  reduce  the  expense  for  seeds  by  discarding  a 
few  varieties  which  did  not  add  materially  to  the  assortment  of 
vegetables,  and  by  reducing  the  quantity  purchased,  in  certain  cases. 

The  bill  for  seeds  purchased  in  1904,  and  which  proved  ample 
for  planting  the  garden  that  year,  is  given  below.  Many  of  the 
varieties  in  the  list  had  been  used  throughout  the  four  preceding 
years,  and  practically  all  had  been  used  at  least  two  years.  Each 


1006 .]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN  199 

variety  was  selected  on  account  ot  its  particular  fitness  for  aiding  in 
the  maintaining  of  a  continuous  succession  of  high  quality  vege- 
tables through  the  season.  There  is  not  a  variety  in  the  list  incapa- 
ble of  producing  satisfactory  results  in  point  of  yield  and  quality 
when  properly  grown  on  the  black  prairie  soil  of  Central  Illinois. 
A  few  of  the  varieties  were  selected  on  account  of  their  extreme 
earliness  so  that  the  season  might  be  prolonged  by  beginning  earlier, 
but  for  the  most  part  the  varieties  are  those  which  continue  to  pro- 
duce an  edible  product  through  a  comparatively  long  season.  All 
are  of  superior  quality  for  their  respective  classes. 

SEEDS  PURCHASED  IN   1904 

I  pt.  Beans,  Stringless  Green  Pod   $o  .10 

Y  pt.  Beans,  Improved  Henderson  Bush  Lima 10 

oz.  Beet,  Crosby's  Egyptian   05 

oz.  Beet,  Long  Smooth  Blood  Red 05 

pkt.  Cabbage,  Select  Jersey  Wakefield 05 

pkt.  Cabbage,  Market  Gardener's  No.  2 10 

pkt.  Cabbage,  Autumn  King    05 

pkt.  Carrot,  Early  Scarlet  Horn 05 

pkt.  Carrot,  Chantenay   05 

pkt.  (half  size)  Cauliflower,  Burpee's  Dry.  Weather 15 

I  pkt.  Celery,   Giant   Pascal    05 

i  pkt.  Sweet  Corn,  Mammoth  White  Cory 05 

i  pkt.  Sweet  Corn,  Chicago  Market  05 

I  pkt.  Sweet  Corn,  Stowell's  Evergreen 05 

i  pkt.  Sweet  Corn,  Country  Gentleman  05 

i  oz.  Cucumber,   Emerald    15 

i  pkt.  Egg  Plant,  Black  Beauty 10 

i  pkt.  Lettuce,    Hanson    05 

i  oz.  Muskmelon,  Burpee's  Netted  Gem 06 

i  oz.  Muskmelon,  Beck's  Strawberry 10 

i  oz.  Watermelon,  Cole's  Early 06 

i  oz.  Watermelon,  Halbert  Honey 10 

i  oz.  Onion,  Australian  Brown   .07 

i  qt.  Onion  Sets,  Yellow  Bottom 20 

i  pkt.  Parsley,  Extra  Dark  Moss  Curled 05 

i  pkt.  Parsnip,  Improved  Guernsey   05 

i  pt.  Peas,   Barnard's  Leader    10 

i  qt.  Peas,   Nott's    Excelsior    30 

i  pkt.  Pepper,   Ruby  King    05 

t  bu.  Potatoes,  Early  Ohio  75 

i  oz.  Radish,  Earliest  White   06 

i  oz.  Radish,  Cincinnati  Market  06 

i  pkt.  Radish,  White  Chinese  (winter)    05 

i  pkt.  Salsify,   Sandwish   Island   Mammoth    05 

i  oz.  Spinach,  Long  Standing  05 

i  pkt.  Squash,  Giant  Summer  Crookneck  05 

i  oz.  Squash,   Faxon    07 

i  pkt.  Tomato,  Freedom    05 

i  pkt.  Tomato,   Stone    05 

I  oz.  Turnip,  Purple  Top  Strap  Leaf 05 

Postage 16 

$3.89 
Discount  on  packets  40 

Net  cost $3-49 


200  BULLETIN  No.  105.  [February 

i 

Not  all  the  seeds  were  purchased  from  one  firm,  because  no  one 
seedsman  listed  all  of  the  varieties  desired,  and  because  the  expense 
for  transportation  could  be  reduced  by  purchasing  some  of  the  heav- 
ier seeds  from  a  local  dealer. 


CONCLUSIONS 

1.  There  is  little  danger  of  making  the  soil  too  rich  for  a  vege- 
table garden,  for  although  a  total  of  ninety-eight  loads  of  manure 
were  applied  to  the  half-acre  during  the  five  years,  none  of  the  vege- 
tables at  any  time  suffered  in  point  of  productiveness  by  reason  of 
too  rampant  a  vegetative  growth. 

2.  The  use  of  hand  tools  is  unnecessary  in  the  preparation  of  a 
seed  bed  if  the  soil  is  worked  at  the  proper  time. 

3.  The  labor  of  hand  weeding  may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  by 
planting  in  freshly  worked  soil  only,  tilling  close  to  the  rows  early 
in  the  season,  and  permitting  no  weeds  to  ripen  their  seed. 

4.  The  use  of  a  wheel  hoe  saves  labor  in  the  care  of  a  garden, 
even  when  much  of  the  tillage  is  to  be  done  with  a  horse. 

5.  The  expense  for  labor  in  caring  for  a  garden  adequate  to 
supply  the  needs  of  an  ordinary  family  need  not  exceed  $30.00  a 
year. 

6.  The  retail  value  of  the  vegetables  which  may  be  grown  in  a 
carefully  planned  and  well  kept  garden  greatly  exceeds  the  cost  of 
their  production. 


1906,]  FARMER'S  VEGETABLE  GARDEN.  201 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES 

Plates  I,  2,  3,  and  4  represent  views  of  the  "farmer's  garden"  taken  at  vari- 
ous times  during  1902.  All  were  taken  from  the  south  end  of  the  area,  looking 
north,  but  not  all  were  taken  from  exactly  the  same  location,  so  that  the  same 
row  is  not  in  the  same  relative  position  in  every  picture. 

Plate  I.  This  view  was  taken  June  I3th.  At  the  extreme  right,  the  broad 
leaves  of  the  rhubarb  in  row  I  may  be  seen,  as  well  as  the  fluffy  tops  of  the 
asparagus  at  the  north  end  of  the  same  row.  The  next  conspicuous  objects 
are  the  few  remaining  plants  of  spinach  at  the  south  end  of  row  5.  The  salsify, 
onions  and  early  carrots  between  the  rhubarb  and  spinach  do  not. show  very 
distinctly.  Then  follow  the  two  rows  of  early  potatoes,  which  hide  from  view 
the  peas  in  row  6.  The  second  planting  of  peas,  at  the  south  end  of  row  9,  is 
immediately  west  of  the  potatoes,  and  the  early  cabbage  can  be  seen  in  the  dis- 
tance at  the  north  end  of  the  same  row.  Iif  the  next  two  rows  appear  the  string 
beans  and  early  sweet  corn.  The  late  carrots,  immediately  west  of  the  corn, 
are  so  small  that  they  can  hardly  be  seen ;  but  the  cabbages  in  rows  13  and  14 
are  quite  conspicuous.  Beyond  these  are  the  tomatoes,  with  the  stakes  for 
their  training.  Between  the  tops  of  the  stakes  glimpses  may  be  caught  of 
the  later  planting  of  sweet  corn,  and  the  vine  crops  in  hills. 

Plate  2  is  from  a  photograph  taken  August  nth.  The  rhubarb  shows  dis- 
tinctly at  the  extreme  right  of  the  picture,  almost  overshadowing  the  salsify 
in  row  2.  The  onions  from  row  3  have  been  pulled,  and  are  curing  on  the 
ground.  The  early  carrots  show  quite  distinctly  in  row  4.  West  of  these  are 
the  celery  and  corn,  planted  July  5th  on  the  land  previously  occupied  by  spinach 
and  peas.  The  apparently  vacant  space  west  of  the  corn  was  planted  with 
turnips  and  winter  radishes  four  days  before  the  picture  was  taken.  This  strip 
was  occupied  earlier  in  the  season  by  rows  8,  9,  10  and  n  of  the  original 
planting,  and  included  early  potatoes,  early  cabbage,  cauliflower,  peas,  string 
beans  and  early  corn.  The  late  carrots,  cabbage,  and  the  tomatoes,  now  nearly 
to  the  tops  of  the  stakes,  appear  west  of  this  newly  planted  area. 

Plate  3  is  reproduced  from  a  photograph  taken  September  6th.  The  rhubarb 
and  salsify  may  be  seen  at  the  extreme  right.  However,  the  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  picture  is  the  late  field  corn  towering  high  above  the  celery  it 
was  planted  to  shade.  West  of  the  corn  appear  the  four  rows  of  turnips  and 
winter  radishes,  with  the  late  carrots,  cabbage  and  tomatoes  at  the  extreme  left. 

Plate  4.  This  view  was  taken  October  i6th,  just  before  the  harvesting  of 
the  root  crops.  The  corn,  which  has  been  cut  away  to  secure  dirt  for  banking 
the  celery,  lies  on  the  ground,  to  be  placed  on  top  of  the  celery  ridge  in  case 
of  a  sudden  freeze.  The  rhubarb  and  salsify,  turnips,  carrots,  cabbage  and 
tomatoes  can  be  seen  as  in  Plate  3. 


202 


BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February, 


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BULLETIN  No.  105. 


[February, 


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